CORNELL LAB of ORNITHOLOGY
LIBRARY

AT SAPSUCKER WOODS

Illustration of Snowy Owl by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

From the Collection

of at
Katherine Friedman i

Cornell University Library

Two bird-lovers in Mexico

DATE DUE

GAYLORD

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

(Page 199)
MEXICAN MOTMOT. THE PENDULUM ON THE SWING

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN
MEXICO

BY

C. WILLIAM BEEBE

Curator of Ornithology of the New York Zowlogical Park and Life
Member of the New York Zoblogical Society ; Member
of the American Ornithologists’ Union

ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS
FROM LIFE TAKEN BY THE AUTHOR

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
Che Vivergide Press, Cambridge
1905

SUIPAF

COPYRIGHT 1905 BY C, WILLIAM BEEBE

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Published September rgo5

TO MY WIFE
THE OTHER BIRD-LOVER

WHOSE SYMPATHY AND HELP IN THE FIELD
AND IN THE STUDY HAVE MADE
THIS BOOK POSSIBLE

PREFACE

HESE chapters on the Nature life of
Mexico were written during a trip to that
country in the winter of 1903-04. We
reached Vera Cruz on Christmas Day ;

Guadalajara on New Year’s, from which city we made
three camping trips in the vicinity of the Volcano of
Colima, in the States of Jalisco and Colima; and _ re-
turning via Vera Cruz, we left that port en route for
New York at Easter.

The entire trip was so novel, so delightful, so abso-
lutely devoid of unpleasant features, and on the whole
so inexpensive, that it seemed to me that the know-
ledge of such an outing would tempt many lovers of
Nature to this neighbouring Republic. Asan aid to such
Mrs. Beebe has added a chapter on “ How we did it.”

Our sincere thanks are due to Hon. Levi P. Morton,
Mr. Madison Grant, and Secretary of State John Hay,
for letters of introduction which proved invaluable.
Of the innumerable courtesies extended to us in
Mexico we are especially grateful for the kindness of
Gobernador Miguel Ahumada, of the State of Jalisco ;
to Gobernador Enrique O. de la Madrid, of the State

of Colima; to the Rev. A. C. Wright and many other
friends in the city of Guadalajara; and also for the
extreme kindness of Mr. W. D. Murdock and other
officials of the Mexican Central Railroad, to whose un-
failing courtesy much of the pleasure and the profit of
our trip are due. Our sincere thanks are due to General
Canada, the American Consul at Vera Cruz, for courte-
sies extended to us during our enforced stay in that city.

Mr. C. B. Waite of Mexico City has kindly permitted
the use of his copyrighted photographs for the front-
ispiece and on pages 15, 23, 29, 30, 97, 333, 343, 358,
and Mr. R. H. Beebe the use of that on page 71. The
illustrations on pages 27, 33, 83, 108, 111, and 125
are the work of Mr. Scott. The other illustrations are
photographs of living subjects taken by myself.

Parts of certain chapters have already appeared in
print in the New York “ Evening Post.”

To facilitate reference to the birds observed and to
the mammals which we were able to identify on our
trip, I have added as an Appendix an annotated list,
with reference to pages of the book, thus supplement-
ing the Index. In the preparation of this Appendix
I am greatly indebted to Mr. E. W. Nelson, of the
Biological Survey at Washington, for the identification
of specimens. C. WILLIAM BEEBE.

Sy, at

Sea Ea St
COD) AES fr ah
Ee) RS ee

I. WAVES OF THE SEA.

II. Coast anp TABLELAND

III. Waxks IN THE CActTus COUNTRY

IV. Oasis AND DESERT

V. Tue Mesquite WILDERNESS

VI. Tue MarsHes or CHAPALA

VII. Campine IN A BARRANCA
VIII. Nature NEAR CAMP

IX. Near THE TWIN VOLCANOS

X. THE Macic Poots

XI. ALonG THE STREAM OF DEATH
XII. THe Trorics
XIII. Tue Hot LAnps or THE Paciric
XIV. ArounD THE VOLCANO BY MOoonLIGHT

XV. How We Dw Ir. By Mrs. C. Witiram BEEBE

APPENDIX

List OF THE BrrpDs AND MAMMALS OBSERVED

INDEX

377

401

(dapat eit AS
RES Spe Be Nice gras

(7
i

aa ILLUSTRATIONS

~ a,

Mexican Motmot. The Pendulum on the Rete (page 199)

Gannet .

Living Portuguese Mano o’-war, Beaches
Cabbage-palms and Palmettoes along the Florida Geax
Pelicans

Royal Palms, eamo Bomncce Saran p Gameaiad ;

Live Needle Fish

Peak of Orizaba

Street Scene in Vera Cruz

One of the Black Scavengers .

Orizaba Mountain through the Clouds

The Peak of Ixtaccihuatl. The Sleeping Woman
View from Esperanza 0 é :
Crater of Popocatepetl

Cave Dwellers

Musicians .

Guadalajara Ditch

Desert Sparrow Hawk

Cuernavaca House Finch

Seed-pods

Jalisco Pouched Rat

A Guadalajara Expressman

Guadalajara .

The Flying Switch

Beited Kingfisher

A Pintail Duck

Green-winged Teal

American Egret

Organ Cactus

Fossil Tooth of Imperial Marsan: in ie Atta Deen
Green Heron . 5 é : :
The Barranca of the Fe Sannane :

Nests of Wasps and Sinaloa Wren

some 51 Boren

Frontispiece

Ww be

OU

an
ow aN

ray

36

The Mesquite Wilderness
La Barca Cathedral, from our Hotel Window.
Native Sail-boat on Lake Chapala .

Palm Log Raft and Ferry near Chapala over the Rie Santingo

Mexican Fisherman

White-fronted and Snow Gene

Plaza at Tuxpan

Tuxpan Cathedral .

Our Pack-train

Mexican Goshawk .

Mexican Canyon Wren .

Elegant Woodpecker

Fork-tailed Hummingbird

A Goshawk near Camp .

Derby Flycatcher

Iguana .

The Barranca Gane

Heliconia Butterflies 0 A .
Our Fortified Camp 4 : s 5
Long-tailed Blue Jay

Roadrunner. : : 3 . 0 5
Parrot-fruit Tree

Parrot Food .

Mourning Dove

Querulous Flycatcher

Least Flycatcher

Giraud Flycatcher

View in the Barranca

Ant-tunnels on a Fig-tree

Benito

Back View of luerean Motmot

Motmots’ Tails, Young Male and Adult emale
Twin Peaks of Colima Volcano

Ridgway Whip-poor-will

Ring-tailed Cat é

Nine-banded Armadillo .

Broken Tail of Iguana é
Daddy-long-legs rs Fi Moss

The Invisible Dragon-fly

A Leaf Butterfly

The Pines of Colima

Thick-billed Parrot

Western Mockingbird singing
Tuxpan in Early Morning

Our Tropical Camp

The Giant Fig-tree

Mexican Opossum playing “ Poeat
Mexican Cacique ;

Pod of Milk-weed Tree .

The Cotton Gall

The Grotesque Fruit

The Wooden Caracara .

Head of Caracara 2
Painted Redstart caught on Fhorn :
A Trapped Fairy .

Texas Kingfisher, fishing on Dry idea :

Ants’ Nest in Tree

The Laughing Falcon

The Coon Hawk :

The Skull of a Yaguarondi
Boat-billed Heron .

Antlers of Brocket .

The Harbour of Manzanillo

Where Swamp and Jungle meet
The Volcano from the City a
City of Colima in Early Morning .
Colima Ground Sparrow

Old Spanish Bridge

The Old Spanish Highway

Lhe Volcano in Eruption

The Trail near Tonila

The Twin Mountains at Night

A Lucky Snap with the Camera

. ILLUSTRATIONS

& xiii

TWO BIRD-LOVERS
IN MEXICO

Perma

CHAPTER I
WAVES OF THE SEA

T was the evening of the seventeenth of
December when our steamer passed Lib-
erty Statue. A sleety storm drove us

into our cabin, where we delved for the
hundredth time into our much-thumbed_ bird-books,
striving to make real to our imagination the birds we
hoped to see, and to attune our ears to the sibilant
tones of the Spanish tongue—the language of the
country whither we were bound — Mexico, the land of
the Cactus and the Caracara.

There is one joy of reading, another of painting,
and another of writing, but none to compare with the
thrill which comes to one who, loving Nature in all
her moods, is about to start on a voyage of discovery
to a land familiar to him in dreams alone.

* TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO ffi

Before we had passed the restless waves off Hatteras
we became familiar with the flocks of Herring Gulls,
as they gleaned the refuse from the wake of the ship.

GANNET. A CAPTIVE WILD BIRD

The Stormy Petrels, the Ring-billed Gulls and the Gan-
nets delighted us, and Black-fish and Dolphins played
about us day after day.

Farther to the south we disturbed immense flocks
of Phalaropes — little sandpipers of the sea — spend-
ing the winter far from land. Occasionally the steam-
er’s prow bore down upon a solitary Loon, forcing it
to dive, and in the blackness of night these brave birds

called to us, their wild laughter ringing out above the
whistle of the wind through the rigging.

When at last we left behind the zone of winter, the
breeze came softened by the balminess which a north-
ern sojourner never knows.

Vessels built by human hands had been few and

far between, but now we passed a real ship of the sea,

LIVING PORTUGUESE MAN-O’-WAR, BEACHED

a tiny galleon of crystal, which floated by, drifting
before the wind, silent as the Flying Dutchman.

We were the only ones who hailed it — perhaps the
only ones who could call its name—a Portuguese

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

Man-o’-War. Its tiny bladder-sail was buoyant and full-
stretched, reflecting all the hues of the rainbow, and
the curling tentacles trailed after. At sight of it a
thousand memories of palm-studded shores rushed over
us, and, looking up, we realized that the miles had
slipped past more quickly than we thought, for only
a short distance away was the white beach of mid-
Florida. It was there—we can discern almost the
very spot — that last winter we watched so many hun-
dreds of fleets of these selfsame Men-o’-War come to
grief, wrecks innumerable, but exquisite even in their
death.

We now edged inshore still closer. The glass
showed every familiar feature; the feathery cabbage-
palms, tall and graceful; the dense, stiff palmettoes ;
now and then a little cloud of Sanderlings blowing
seaward and back again; and, finally, a long dark
undulating line, now throbbing with action, now mov-
ing smoothly, and we knew that the Brown Pelicans
were on the way to their fishing-grounds. A flock of
Bluebills passed swiftly, and high over the land hung
the Vultures, forever waiting and watching. Once,
with the glass, we made out a mass of circling, soar-
ing birds. This is the aerial guard of Pelicans watch-
ing over their islet in Indian River, where last year
we saw hundreds of nests, eggs, and young birds, all
crowded closely together on a low island of some
three acres’ extent. Through an inlet we caught a

ening 06 A) Demme

WAVES OF THE SEA

glimpse of some Wood Ibises, and then began the unin-
teresting array of cottages and hotels from Palm Beach
southward.

Before dark we were passing the Keys, — those
magical islands where we had revelled among the

CABBAGE-PALMS AND PALMETTOES ALONG THE FLORIDA COAST

angel fish, the corals, and the sponges. A solitary
Frigate-bird sailed majestically past in the van of a
short, hard downpour of warm rain. In a few minutes
all was clear again and a beautiful sunset stained the
water crimson and silhouetted the channel buoys,

throwing into black relief the Florida Cormorants
and Frigate-birds which make these buoys their roost.
Alligator Light at last with measured winks gleamed
at us from out the darkness, and the warm tropical
night wind made of snow and winter but a fading
memory.

Karly m April, when we returned through these
waters, we encountered a terrific storm of wind and
rain when about one hundred miles east of Jackson-
ville. Just before the first squall reached us, a male
Hooded Warbler in full plumage dashed to the
steamer’s rail, balanced a moment, and hid in one of
the life-boats. Five seconds more and the raging
wind would have hurled the little creature into the
waves.

Our first view of Cuba was not an especially roman-
tic one, all that was distinguishable in the early morn-
ing dusk being the brightly lighted trolley cars moving
swiftly along the shore. Later, when we approached
the land and the sun rose, we came under the spell
of the full beauty of Havana’s harbour. Morro and
Punta passed grey and sombre, the white spray of
the sea thrown high at their base. Then appeared the
white, glistening city, crowding close to the water's
edge, its landward boundary lost in a setting of em-
erald hills. We dropped anchor near the bewreathed
fighting-tops of the historical Maine, and hastened on
shore in a rolypoly “ bum-boat.”

ne wen eie 6 porns

WAVES OF THE SEA

After wandering about the city for a while and see-
ing the proverbial patios, senoritas, mantillas, and
plazas, which for most travellers are the sum total of
interest, we took a trolley out into the suburbs, beyond
the whitewashed walls and blue blinds, to get a flying

PELICANS

glimpse of Cuban nature. No feathered creatures,
save the ubiquitous Turkey Vultures, appeared until
fortune guided us to the Botanico Jardin de Univers-
idad, where among the roses and jasmines, the wide-
spreading rubber-trees, and stately Royal Palms, we
found birds in abundance. Our minds recorded the _

cranes J Bpprienenee

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

English Sparrows subconsciously, as from habit we
forgot to give this intruder a place on our list until
we left the Garden. A small flock of Anis (Crotophaga
ani) — those slender cow-birds of the tropics — kept
to the tree-tops. In appearance they were like ema-
ciated Grackles with high-arched bills. The Yellow
Palm and Myrtle Warblers were abundant, while Cat-

birds, Mockingbirds, and Redwings were in lesser num-
bers. Ground Doves scurried about, and a single
American Pipit walked ahead of us along the gravelly
paths. Several vireos and other small birds passed too
quickly for identification. Two Orioles, with the black
throats of their second year’s plumage, were dusted
thickly with yellow pollen, making them of a beautiful
golden green colour. These birds were remarkably tame
and allowed us to come within four or five feet of them.
Skinks and other small lizards were everywhere, and
the brush-piles rustled with their scurrying. Twice
in succession I saw a small green lizard attacked and
driven out of sight by a large violet-winged ichneumon
fly.

Forced to be satisfied with these meagre notes of
Cuban life, we hastily returned to the steamer and
soon afterward weighed anchor. Half an hour before
we left the harbour, tiny bats began to fly swiftly
past us, with a remarkable, unbat-like directness of
flight. Within twenty minutes, hundreds passed by,
—coming, perhaps, from some desolate coral cave
along the coast and heading straight inland. Through-
out our first night on the Gulf, and all the next day,
rolled by a heavy ground-swell, our vessel steamed due
west.

Although birds were unaccountably absent during
this portion of our trip, their place was taken by
winged creatures of the sea —our first Flying-Fish.

And how curious they are; descriptions and drawings
being powerless to give any adequate conception of
them in life!

Probably the astonishment which one feels at be-
holding a fish desert its element, to which it seems
so helplessly bound, and skim lightly as a bird, yard
after yard through the air, is no less in a well-read
student of fishes than in a person who has never
heard of such a phenomenon. From the bow we
watched the tiny grey forms, which shot ahead just
below the surface, suddenly emerge, the four great fins
instantly spreading taut. The smaller posterior pair
fold up and close occasionally, but the pectoral ones
remain expanded. A fresh impetus is sometimes gained
by a second’s touch of the tail to the crest of a wave,
a frantic wiggle sending the little creature up and on
again. But soon strength and momentum give out
and the flight ends in an unlovely flop into the water.
Some of the Flying-Fish seem but half an inch in
length, — from our lookout they are hardly larger
than blue-bottle flies, — while the largest may be six
or seven inches from head to tail. Similes between
marine and terrestrial creatures are often inapt and ill-
taken, but no one can deny the resemblance between
these fish and the large flying grasshoppers of our
summer meadows.

The most exciting event of the day proved to be
the discovery of several waterspouts — great Atlas-like

ere Tho) Sacricn

pulars of ever-moving liquid, joining sea and cloud.
The steamer passed through a small one and dissolved
it, a sudden torrent of rain representing the synthesis
of the watery column.

Early next morning the engines ceased their throb-
bing and we swung round from our anchor in the light
emerald waters, five miles off shore at Progreso, Yuca-
tan. A trip ashore showed a most barren country, sand
and dusty mesquite with several scattered palms in the
far distance; no birds, no insects, no flowers. Only
the sisal hemp exporter could be interested in the
scorching warehouses, and even he seems to yearn to
leave the country in company with his fibre. Cows
must be a long-felt want in Yucatan, judging from
the number which were sent ashore, each mutely pa-
tient bovine unresistingly allowing herself to be belted
in a canvas sling and hoisted up and outward to the
unsteady deck of a lighter. Last of all came several
netfuls of new-born calves, their legs dangling help-
lessly through the meshes, protesting with shrill, in-
fantile bleats at this enforced aerial journey.

We heard fascinating tales of primeval forests far
in the interior, and ruins of cities built by a diminu-
tive race of savages, but our faces were turned toward
the setting sun and nothing tempted us aside.

Much of interest was to be seen about the ship. The
floating garbage attracted thousands of lithe, silvery

Needle Fish, looking like tiny editions of Gar-

pikes. These glided past in schools or fought in swarms
over bits of meat and bread. Sharks now and then
cut the water with their long fins and might be tempted
with pork. Red Snappers and Grunts, the latter with
beautiful blue and gold-lined heads, were abundant,
and over the stern rail one could soon catch enough
for dinner.

Many hours after the low coast of Yucatan had sunk
below the horizon, two coral islets appeared, — two
desolate crescents of sand bravely defying the great
waste of waters. Yet they do not deserve the term
desolate, for several hundred sturdy feathered beings
know these little plots of dry land as home. Booby is
the meaningless name by which these birds are known
to man, but little care they ; a world of ocean with fish
in plenty, a mate, a few square inches of dry sand,
and they are happy and content. The steamers which
pass now and then might cease to come, mankind
and his civilization might vanish from the earth, and
the Boobies would miss nothing. They are blood
brothers to the Gannets, but are feathered brown
above instead of white, and enjoy each other’s com-
pany more, flying in long oblique lines close to the
water. Now and then one dropped from the flock
like a plummet, seized a fish, swallowed it, and rising,
caught up with his companions, all of whom were
moving steadily onward, paying not the slightest at-
tention to the steamer.

i pirate (2 toners

WAVES OF THE SEA

The sun sank into a sea smooth as glass, and when
its golden path had faded out, a tiny thread of silver
was left, — the thin moon-crescent hung even-balanced
in the western sky,

and our last night on the
water — our first Christmas Eve in the tropics — was
one of enchantment.

LIVE NEEDLE FISH

CHAPTER II
COAST AND TABLELAND

STITH all our alertness and despite much
peering through glasses on Christmas
4 morning to catch the first glimpse of the
low Mexican coast, we found ourselves
most profoundly deceived and tricked by Mother Na-
ture. No horizon was ever more closely scanned than

was that in the path of our steamer, but when a dark
and ominous-looking cloud slowly rose ahead, we were
fain to give up the attempt, supposing that the
approaching storm concealed everything beneath it.
Idly watching the dark clouds as they gained in size
and distinctness, the truth suddenly flashed upon me,
and if ever my eyes beheld a miracle it was in the
fraction of a second in which the rising banks of storm
clouds changed to a grand range of lofty mountains,
apparently rising abruptly out of the sea. But the end
of the miracle was not yet. Surely those fleecy white
thunder-caps which edged the apex of the supposed
storm and so enhanced the resemblance — these at least
must be what they seemed. I strained and strained
through the glasses, and, satisfied on this point, was
about to lower them, when the scales again were lifted
from my eyes, and the magnificent peak of Orizaba,

COAST AND TABLELAND

forever capped with snow, stood out against the sky
like purest crystal. So clear-cut was it that it seemed
but an hour or two away in the very path of the steamer.
We had expected many pleasures in Mexico, but never
such an introduction — as sublime as it was unex-
pected.

Waite, photographer
PEAK OF ORIZABA

As if to punish us for our extravagant delight, mists
and haze soon closed like a curtain over all, to keep
the coveted sight from our eyes for days to follow.
An hour or two later, we approached the harbour of
Vera Cruz, in the teeth of a rising storm, only too
real this time. We anchored behind the protecting
breakwater and went ashore in a small and shaky boat,
which, soon after our landing, was swamped at her
moorings. Within three minutes after reaching shore
the wind increased to a hurricane, cutting off all com-
munication with the steamer and our baggage. On the
strength of the comforting (?) information that 1t was
an unusually severe “ norther” and would last two or
three days, in company with our stranded fellow pass-
engers, we sadly sought accommodations in this most
overcrowded and unsavoury of Mexican cities.

To many of our party, the most enduring memory
of these first two dreary days will ever be the stinging
storm of flymg sand which filled the air; others will
never forget the Vultures which walk about the streets
and peer hungrily at the passers-by; I am sure that all
will be able to recall the flavour of the paregoric pud-
ding (or should I eall it sopa de anise-seed 7) which
was the piece de resistance of our Christmas dinner.
But our memories are not altogether unpleasant ones.
Our pockets were delightfully heavy with great silver
dollars and other denominations of Mexican money
which we had received for our American gold. Some

are 16 Semana

COAST AND TABLELAND 3S

of this it must be admitted was as soiled in a literal
sense as it is described in the proverbial filthy lucre.
But then did we not have more than double our orig-
inal amount? And there are few of us who would not

STREET SCENE IN VERA CRUZ

rather have $2.18 (which was at that time the rate of
exchange) than a single dollar, even though it be fresh:
from the mint!

Catching a glimpse from the roof of our hotel of
the wonderful surf thrown up at the breakwater to the
northward, we made up our minds to see this rainless
and its work, face to face. We

?

terrible “ norther’

mumsé¥ TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO #60
found walking little short of torture until we got to
windward of the sand dunes outside of the city, where
the air was clear, although the wind was so strong
that one had to creep on hands and knees. Crouching
in the lee of the great breakwater, we watched the tre-
mendous waves roll in; vast walls of green and white,
which curved and broke twenty feet above the line of
ponderous masonry. Vessels would be shattered like
glass if they were near shore on the outside, and even
in the protected harbour all their anchors were needed.
When the waves reached the foot of the breakwater
the spray was hurled sixty feet or more into the air,
and the sound was like heavy thunder. Now and then
huge, handsomely mottled crabs were hurled, frantic-
ally kicking, through the air, over the breakwater, and
good-sized fish were twice dashed toward us.

Other craft than the vessels were riding out the gale
near us—a trio of Brown Pelicans, facing up wind,
rising and falling on the waves inside the line of fury.
They floated upwards a few feet above the water, as
we approached, but the strength of the wind beat them
down again. The line of froth of the highest-reaching
wave on the beach was darkened with the bodies of
thousands of insects, victims of the storm — tiger
beetles and small moths predominating. Behind tiny
clumps of grass along the beach, hard-pressed birds
had sought safety, and, when forced out of their shel-
ters, half ran, half fluttered to the next bit of weeds.

COAST AND TABLELAND

Two Wilson Snipe, four Killdeer Plovers, and several
small Wilson Petrels were among this gale-stricken
assemblage.

The strangeness of the Mexicans, and their dress,
their houses, streets, and markets were of never-failing

ty
ith

1

ONE OF THE BLACK SCAVENGERS

interest ; but well-written accounts of these may be
found in half a hundred volumes. Many of the cus-
toms and much of the city life of these people seem
half familiar after one has perused such books. It is
the outskirts of the towns and beyond that promise
the real surprises.

We welcomed the first movement of the train which

: TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

was to bear us to the town of Orizaba; and as we
whirled along, we were “ just one large eye.” For the
first few miles, sand, sand everywhere, and as we
approached the edge of this coastal desert, the ravages
of the ‘ norther” became plainly visible. Far to the
north of us, midwinter blizzards were raging ; snow
was drifting and filling every hollow. Here, although
nothing had fallen from the sky, a more deadly bliz-
zard had swept over the land. In some places the sand
seemed to have been lifted bodily in great masses by
the gale, and carried inland. Fenced-in gardens of
vegetables and flowers were a foot deep in level sand,
while the sombreroed Mexicans were working frantic-
ally with fingers and baskets to remove the deadly
weight of stony grains. More than one thatched hut
was crushed in to windward by the weight of drifted
sand, and many of the banana palms were buried
so deep that their low-arching leaves were all held
fast. We saw where the natives had erected a stout
barrier to protect a little cultivated patch, but this
proved merely a challenge which the north wind ac-
cepted with fierce joy. It was short work to fill in
the windward side with the shifting dust, and then
each blast sent a cloud, swirling up the slope to fall
over the top like a waterfall—a merciless stream of
blighting sand.

The train soon left behind this unpleasant zone of
Nature’s warfare, and we passed into dense jungles as

tropical as any under the equator. As any zonal map
will show, while the North Temperate reaches a chilly
finger far southward along the highest slopes of
Mexico’s tableland, the Tropics are not intimidated,
but threaten indeed to outflank their eternal enemy
by sending long slender arms northward up the two
coasts, where the breath of the equator defies the
frosts of the snow-capped peaks but a few miles away.
For mile after mile we rushed on, hardly rising a foot,
through fields of tasselled cano azucar (sugar-cane),
through groves of banana and cocoanut-palms, and
coffee plantations. Marsh and Sparrow Hawks were
abundant, and an occasional large yellow flycatcher
flashed past. We began to draw near the mountains,
which rose high and grand in a single abrupt sweep
from the flat hot lands, the tierra caliente, which we
had left behind us.

At night, in our hotel in Orizaba, we were reminded
of our close approach to the cold mountains by a freez-
ing wind which lasted until late next morning. Amid
hundreds of roses we shivered and shook as we ate our
breakfast in the open patio. The insect life of this
town must go into a semi-hibernation every night, for
I found many species of moths and beetles stiff and
numb upon the ground beneath the electric lights.
Two large and beautiful sphinx moths (Pseudosphinx
tetrio) which I held in my hand for some time, revived,
and at last were able to fly weakly away.

cmmuneg Q] Pornnn

- TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO #

Waiting at the station for the early morning train,
we saw nothing but lofty mountains on all sides. At
the first rays of the sun, the cold night mists drifted
away, or, glacier-lke, streamed slowly into the deeper
valleys, leaving each depression and hollow of the
mountain forest overflowing with an intercepted cloud-
pool, which in the increasing warmth soon sank into
the foliage or was drawn upward into invisibility.

Orizaba’s cap of snow, which forever hangs above
this little town, —its namesake, — was not visible in
the early morning, owing to the mists which filled the
upper air. The mountain directly facing the station was
not a large one and was near at hand, and when the
dense clouds suddenly cleared away, we were astonished
to see its blunt summit capped with a dazzling mass of
snow. Every detail stood out clear-cut; it seemed as
if we might almost walk to the summit, throw a snow-
ball into the streets of the town, and return in time for
the train. But the mystery of this small, low moun-
tain, thus snow-covered, was not solved until we walked
a few hundred yards to one side and, to our amazement,
the cap of snow had slid a little off the mountain !
The explanation was then clear. Orizaba, although
over forty miles away, was directly in a line with the
small mountain near the station, and at that place the
snow-cap fitted so exactly upon the lesser mass that
closest scrutiny with the glass failed to show the decep-
tion, while the clearness of the atmosphere mocked

SdNOTO AHL HONOUHL NIVINQOWN VAVZINO

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COAST AND TABLELAND

every estimate of distance. Thus Orizaba scored a sec-
ond time upon us, putting to naught the evidence of
our senses.

The town of Orizaba is said to be very healthy,
although here, as in Vera Cruz, the sanitary arrange-
ments are most primitive, and with the sun come the
ebony hosts of the feathered board of health — scav-
engers in the shape of Black Vultures and Blackbirds.

The ride of the first few hours beyond Orizaba is
one of the most wonderful experiences in Mexico, if
not indeed in the world, and both words and pictures
fail utterly to describe it. The train is drawn by a great
double engine, and the grade is remarkably steep.
Round and round we slowly wound, in and out of the
valleys and mountain clefts, ever higher and higher.

First we passed along the bottom of a wide valley;
then, leaving it behind, we pierced tunnel after tunnel,
five, ten, fifteen, and more, each separated by a beau-
tiful vista of the valley below, growing ever more dis-
tant. Near the centre of the valley, a tall solitary poplar
at the edge of a little pond is a prominent landmark,
which comes again and again into view from differ-
ent points of the compass. The engines puff laboriously
up to a station set deep in the woods, and dark-faced
Indian women cluster at the windows holding up gourds
of orchid plants or oranges or enchaladas. “ Comprar
las naranas ? Favor de comprar las flores?” they
beseech for an interval, and the train passes on.

wes sensed 5 Boren

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

Half an hour later, another wayside station comes
into view and the identical women crowd up as before,
with the same baskets and gourds of wares. This shows
how laborious and slow was our progress ; the Indian
women had run through the woods and now again
intercepted us, many miles from the last station, as the
track lies. The natives often send freight from place
to place, helping to load it on the car, then running
by some short cut, beating the train, unloading their
baggage, and thus saving all car-fare.

At last we were so high that the large cultivated
fields looked like squares on a checker-board, and the
herds of grazing cattle became tiny black dots. The
most wonderful phenomenon of this ascent was the
change in vegetation. Oranges and bananas were re-
placed by plants of the temperate zone, and before the
highest point was reached, the vistas of the tropical
lowlands were framed in the needle-tracery of cold-
loving pines. Three hours’ travel on this train will
teach one more of physical geography than three months
of study. At Esperanza we were more than a mile above
the level of the sea, and here the engines were changed,
the big fellows to rest a day and to-morrow to slide
gently back to Orizaba.

As suddenly as we entered the mountains, so with-
out warning we left them and found ourselves rushing
along through clouds of dust across a plain, the begin-
ning of the great Mexican tableland, which extends

Scott, photographer
THE PEAK OF IXTACCIHUATL: THE ‘“‘SLEEPING WOMAN”

from coast to coast. By far the larger part of this
area which is seen from the train may be described
as one enormous pulque patch, pulque bemg the
national intoxicating drink. This is obtained from the
maguey plant, great century-plant-like growths which
are about the only green things that will grow in

Waite, photographer

VIEW FROM ESPERANZA

this saltpetre-permeated earth. The great spike-leaved
plants are placed in rows about ten feet apart in each
direction, and for mile after mile, league upon league,
these rows reach to the horizon. As the train passes,
the radiating oblique lines, focusing at one’s eye,
seem to revolve in a continuous, maddening, reeling
whirl.

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TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO #

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bea ee ey CRATER OF POPOCATEPETL

But Orizaba was still in plain sight to soothe the
most tired eyes. Lofty, sublime, chaste, it ever stands,
with that wonderful character common to snow-capped
peaks, of seeming to hang suspended in the air, with
no touch of the earth beneath. The old Aztec pyra-
mids of the Sun and Moon appeared, and were left
behind, and finally the white heads of Popocatepetl
and Iztaccihuatl came into view. We found that Ori-
zaba had left us few adjectives wherewith to express
our admiration of the majestic beauty of these moun-
tains, the “Smoking Mountain” and his mate the
“Sleeping Woman ;” but we began to realize, what
became ever more true to us, that the volcanoes and
snow peaks of Mexico are among the greatest pleasures

© COAST AND TABLELAND teuum:

this country has to give to a lover of God’s Nature.
The alkali dust rose thicker and penetrated every
crevice until we were almost smothered behind our wet
handkerchiefs as we rumbled into the station of the
City of Mexico.

The capital city is Americanized to such an extent
that it lacks the charm of a typical city of either
country, and one may find a greater enjoyment and
novelty in the more suburban parts, amid the beauty
of the Vega Canal, or the stateliness of Chapultepec.
Within the grounds of the latter historical place was
a pitiful little zoological garden, perhaps the only one
in the Republic. Here, in a few small, rickety cages,
were some Mexican Deer, Peccaries, dogs, pigeons,
and rabbits, a magnificent Harpy Eagle, and a forlorn
Lioness.

The cathedral, with its softened, incense-laden air,
its quiet, impressive hush, so different from the bustle
outside, seemed out of place on this side of the globe,
so venerable and medieval is the effect it produces.
This very day was being celebrated as its three hun-
dred and sixtieth anniversary.

Occasionally, during our all-night ride westward
from the capital, I peered out of the window of the
sleeper into the dim light of the night, but pulque
plants by moonlight were all that rewarded me. With
the coming of dawn the country appeared more divers-
ified, and fields of maize-stubble alternated with the

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

leagues of maguey — enough of the latter, one would
think, to provide the whole world with delirium tre-
mens. Birds became much more numerous. Cowbirds,
in dense, compact flocks of a thousand or more, rose
and whirled away in unison, and almost every good-
sized tree had a Shrike perched on the topmost branch.
The line of Sparrow Hawks on the telegraph wires was
unbroken, about one to every eighth pole. They
showed not the slightest fear of the passing train, and
left their perch only when some large insect or small
bird rose near by. Twice we saw them attack Cow-
birds almost as large as themselves, the two falling,
fiercely struggling, to the ground. We were told by
an engineer who was an accurate observer of birds
that occasionally these valiant little hawks were over-
come by birds of greater strength than themselves,
which they had fearlessly attacked.

The momentary glimpse of some small ponds showed
a vast assemblage of ducks and wading birds and made
us impatient for our journey’s end. We found the
Mexicans more and more interesting, and each little
station offered something new. Blind musicians, who
twanged guitars strung with eighteen strings, and
chanted Paloma and other odd-timed Mexican or
Spanish songs, were led beneath the windows. We
were astonished to hear them all join at the end in
screaming the melody of “ After the Ball is Over,”
and we wondered how that time-worn tune could have

sree oS 32 Boerne

CAVE DWELLERS

mung, COAST AND TABLELAND %

reached thus far. We were at fault in this, however,
for these people have more right to the air than
we. The plagiarism lies with us, for the air is an old,
old Spanish one, and the musical words which the
Mexicans use antedate by many years our frivolous
verses.

An old man approached and began to imitate famil-
iar sounds; a dog’s bark, a cock’s crow, a bird’s trill-
ing, were excellently rendered, and cinco centavos
made him happy. At each small station the throng
was a strange, most picturesque one. Once a young
Mexican of twenty or thereabouts climbed on board
and walked down the aisle of the car, looking curiously
at everything, but never ceasing to knit a gaudy, red
sweater-like affair. This feminine occupation was
thrown into stronger relief by his large-calibred
revolver and embroidered belt of cartridges.

The Mexicans ingeniously utilize the large crotches
of trees as receptacles for stacks of fodder, and a tree
thus filled to overflowing with corn-stalks is a curious
sight. The fodder is, by this means, kept out of the
reach of hungry cattle and burros.

A station often shows nothing but a rickety, shed-
like building, the town being at a distance and out of
sight. In some cases the natives have reverted to cave-
dwellings, hewn into the rocky cliffs, the entrances
to which remind one of a colony of Bank Swallows on
a gigantic scale.

All these, and a hundred other impressions, held
our interest before we backed down into our last stop-
ping-place, the Lstacion de Guadalajara. They left
us with a confused but realistic appreciation of the
strangeness and isolation of this sister republic of ours,
whose land adjoins us, and yet whose ways and cus-
toms are separated from ours by centuries of time and
a vast degree of culture.

MUSICIANS

CHAPTER II
WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY

ARLY on New Year’s Day we were awak-
ened by the song of birds — not the morn-
ing carols of those we were so eager to see

and hear, but an almost continuous series
of clarion tones from hundreds of roosters. Far and
near they flapped and crowed and crowed again, and
our patio rang with the sound. Before the last few
lingering crows died away, dozens of church bells
began to toll, some sonorous and slow and others with
frantic clangs. Succeeding these, more or less expert
buglers chimed in, scores from the various barracks
blowing loudly if not well. Apparently the reveille
was the object of most of their efforts, certain individ-
uals sounding taps, which made up in vigour of blast
what was lacking in appropriateness.

Our Guadalajara home was well on the outskirts of
the city, in easy walking distance of the transvia,
which, behind three galloping mules, shrieked along
the uneven rails and afforded rapid transit to the plaza.

Several minutes’ walk in the opposite direction, and
the narrow street frayed out into a few straggling,
thatched huts, beyond which stretched the level sun-

4 TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

burnt plain which separated the city from the surround-
ing’ hills.

The air in early morning was as keen and fresh as
that which blows across a Nova Scotia upland, and
we forgot that we were well south of the Tropic of
Cancer. The pumice which crackled underfoot showed
why the poor grass and weeds shrivel at the first lack
of moisture at the beginning of this rainless season.
There was nothing in the level country extending be-
fore us mile upon mile, to suggest that we were at an
altitude above the clouds of distant New York — a mile
above the sea. We almost expected to see the Mexican
clouds appear close overhead, perhaps just clearing the
fields as they floated along. But here they were, as high
as ever above the ground.

A little distance beyond the last hut, we came upon
a number of bare-legged, sandalled Mexicans shivering
in their red serapes. They had scraped away the sur-
face covering of pumice and were grubbing up a bed
of clay — literally making “bricks without straw.”
This recalls one of the greatest delights of city life in
Mexico — the house with a patio or open central court,
bright with sunlight all day and glistening in the star-
light or moonlight at night. Yet in such a house one
lives more secluded than in a solid American dwelling.
It is an ideal home for such a climate as this — perpet-
ual camping out.

We realized why these adobe houses blended so

& WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY 3%

naturally into the landscape, seeming more like nat-
ural dunes or mounds than artificial productions of
mankind. Here we stood and watched these dusky
natives hew out the very ground, add a little water,
mould into large rectangles, pile one upon the other,
and lo! one’s house is built! No wonder the outer
walls become lichened and weathered as soon as they
are erected. The adventitious vines and weeds which
sprout from wall and roof grow from seeds which,
like the Egyptian wheat kernels, may have been long
buried beneath the barren pumice. A home well worth
living in, where one can plant flowers and vines in
the walls from base to roof, where one’s window-pot
of bloom may root, not in the pots, but in the very
window-sill itself! Why not a kitchen garden growing
on the kitchen, where are earthen furrows, instead of
lapping shingles !

How close to Nature one seems to live thus! closer
to Mother Earth than did Thoreau at Walden ; and yet
when this framework of mud is clothed within with
clean plaster, in rooms cool-tiled and with ceilings of
taut linen, sleep and study and the joy of very life
come in pleasantest forms.

It is in the making of gardens and to the lover of
flowers that one thinks of a patio as ideal. Pitiful is
the remembrance of the unfortunate plants which strug-
gle for life in the steam-heated houses of the North,
when we see our Mexican indoor, open-air garden.

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

Coffee-trees are beaded with their red fruit, carnation
and geranium bushes reflect brilliant masses of colour.
To walk to parlour or dining-room we pass strawberries,
great heliotropes, and climbing ferns, and all through
the moonlight nights, the odour of unpicked violets
and gardenias passes like incense throughout the whole
house.

What city veranda or back yard can compensate for
the delight of being able to recline on one’s couch and
watch the wonderful hummingbirds, attracted by the
flowers, shoot down into one’s very house, or again in
the dusk when those ghosts of hummingbirds — great
gray sphinx moths — visit the patio, uncoiling their
long tongues and drawing up the sweet nectar from
the calyxes!

But to return to the fields which stretched beyond
the makers of bricks. It is not difficult to describe
a Guadalajara winter landscape where the last drop of
moisture fell in October, and the sun shines unclouded
by storm until the following June. Here and there,
far apart, we saw large mesquite-trees, but besides these
the eye rested only on maize-fields, with the brown
stalks of the last crop still standing. These fields are
divided off, not by fences of stone or wire, but by
ditches eight to ten feet in depth and as many wide,
while along each side runs a fringe of tall cactus, mak-
ing trespassing often a difficult and painful process.
These inverted fences are to drain off the excess water

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WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY :

during the season of rains, but we found them useful
for reasons of our own.

Our progress was at first discouraging. The way
was hot and dusty, and the cornstalks crashed under
the lightest step, alarming all the birds for yards
around. At last, while watching a hummingbird

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

through my glasses, I slipped and fell into a ditch and
I remained there the rest of the day, not because of
inability to get out, but because I found these ditches
most delightful and profitable places in which to ram-
ble. Ramifying as they do about every field, we made
our way in any direction without ascending to the
ground above. The broad green pads of the cactus
arching overhead shut out the glare of the sun, while
the lacework skeletons of the fallen leaves made our
footsteps noiseless.

But all this was to little advantage if these sunken
avenues offered no attractions to the birds and other
wild creatures. Our most sanguine hopes were realized,
as future walks demonstrated. Not only did the birds
and small beasts rush to the protection of the ditches
when alarmed in the open fields, but here many had
their homes, here the birds roosted at night, and a much
larger number found their food by day. We might
have rambled for weeks through the fields, and have
credited this semi-desert region with a much more
meagre fauna than was concentrated in these cool and
pleasant alleys, where we were as secluded as if miles
away from the city, although in reality only a few
hundred yards from the end of the streets.

The Desert Sparrow Hawks! were as abundant and

1 Two Sparrow Hawks which were shot by a young Mexican were
typical of the Western race phalena. Whether our common Eastern
form was represented we could not determine, as we were not able to
distinguish the characteristics in the living birds.

.THE DESERT SPARROW HAWK

& WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY 3

tame in this locality as all along the railroad from the
eastern coast. The little fellows seemed to have staked
out claims for themselves, over which each individual
held sway, levying heavy toll upon the mice and grass-
hoppers within his chosen domain. About every fifty
yards along the rows of cactus, a Sparrow Hawk had
his perch, from which he occasionally sallied to snatch
an insect from the ground. Now and then a Marsh
Hawk skimmed past, reflecting in his flight every
inequality of the ground. As he passed from the range
of one Sparrow Hawk to another, each in turn rose
and fluttered above him with complaining cries, and
long after the larger but inoffensive bird had passed
from our sight, his course might be traced by the suc-
cession of irate Sparrow Hawks shrieking their “ chil/y-
chilly” at him.

The most abundant bird hereabouts was the Clay-
coloured Sparrow. It brought to mind the Chipping
Sparrow of the North in its tameness and general
appearance. Flocks of hundreds of these little birds
fed upon the weed-seeds among the dead corn, and after
a hawk had passed we might almost step upon scores of
them, so closely did they hug the ground in terror.
When they rose, it was with a whirr of wings worthy of
a much larger bird,a short flight and a swift, long run
behind a sheltering furrow. Almost as abundant were
the Western Lark Sparrows, haunting the fields and
ditches. The handsomely marked head, black-centred

sme? TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO
breast, and white-tipped tail of this bird make it easy
to know at sight. It has not the trace of a crest, yet
a habit of often raising the feathers on its head would
certainly lead a casual observer to credit the bird with
such an ornament.

No lover of birds need be ashamed of the exclama-
tion “ Purple Finches!” which he would be sure to
utter at first sight of the large flocks of birds in the
fields, and often in the very streets of Guadalajara.
They are House Finches, and although belonging to
the same genus and very like in plumage to the pur-
pureus of our Northern cedars, yet they are radically
different in habits. Like the Bob-Whites and certain
other birds, the House Finches of Mexico are split up
geographically into eight or nine races, and the sub-
species inhabiting this region is designated the Cuer-
navaca House Finch. They are the English Sparrows
of Guadalajara, and they are indeed a vast improve-
ment on that interloper. Their delightful colouring
and sweet, warbling song, uttered often from the dusty
streets, made us realize all the more forcibly the total
lack of charm of Passer domesticus. Sometimes about
sunset fifty or a hundred of these House Finches in
all stages of colouring — from brown through parti-
coloured hues to pink or deep rose — would rise from
the fields and pass with a slow, fluttering flight over
our heads westward, all singing their sweetest. It was
a most unexpected pleasure, repeated again and again.

fea 28 AG Down

WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY

CUERNAVACA HOUSE FINCH

Apparently their song was as perfect now in January
as during the nesting season, a few months later.
Once and once only did I see the Arizona Pyrrhu-
loxia in Mexico. My sudden but fortunate descent into
the ditch alarmed a pair of birds which flew up and
gave me a full view of their beauties — Cardinal-like

in action and crest, but a delicate light gray in colour.
The female bird had just a suggestion of rose upon
throat and breast, but her mate, perching with half-
opened wings, glowed with the pure warm colour from
forehead, breast, underwings, and flanks. After a
minute both birds disappeared and evaded all further
search.

No matter how dried up a place appears, some flower
or plant finds nourishment enough to grow, and the
ditches and corn-fields of a Guadalajara midwinter
were no exception. Tall, thistle-like Mexican poppies
sent forth their pale, lemon-coloured flowers, brighten-
ing the dusty plain, and among the weeds growing
from the sides of the trenches were multitudes of tall
stalks bearing long, pendulous, scarlet blossoms, a spe-
cies of wild lobelia. Our favourites among the few
blossoms of this season were little wild ground ver-
benas which purpled the parched furrows in many
places. Their leaves were brittle, their roots seemed
as dry as a husk, yet they managed somehow to grow
and blossom in numbers.

The most interesting objects for the botanists were
the many curious seed-pods of the weeds and other
plants hereabouts, from the great fruit clusters of the
castor-oil plants to the tiniest of seed-plumes.

As we rambled through the trenches we sometimes
brushed against a mass of large golden globes, strung
close together along the leafless twigs of the plant —

# WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY Hem
brittle and five-sided and as light as air. They re-
minded one in shape somewhat of the sea-jellies (Beroé)
which drift in the currents of the ocean. And the
simile is not confined to the exterior, for within hangs
a small round sac containing the tiny flat brown seeds,
just as, in certain of the animal jelly-fishes, the pendu-
lous stomach is swung. Out of curiosity I counted the
seeds in one of these seed-vessels and found two hun-
dred and fifty-three. A single branch which I brought
home with seventy-nine globes would, therefore, scat-
ter some eighteen thousand fruit. The least touch or

SEED-PODS

; TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO %

breath of air sets each of these many seeds vibrating
within their hollow spheres, producing a sweet, sifting
tinkle, comparable to nothing I have ever heard in
Nature.

In the Guadalajara ditches we began to realize that
Mexico isa land of thorns and spines. Indeed the seeds
are about equally divided between those furnished with
hooks or spines, and those intended to be wafted away
by the wind. One low, spreading bush has a double
chance for distributing its seeds. When it dries up, the
stalk breaks off almost at the first breath of air, and
the light, thorny mass, more or less globular in shape,
is rolled and tumbled far across the fields. Several
times a number of these bushes blew toward us so rap-
idly that we could not escape them, although we knew
from experience that much time and patience would be
necessary to free our clothing from the barbed and
rebarbed burrs.

How we wished for handbooks to name all the seeds
and plants, but the price one must pay for the pleasure
of rambling among birds and flowers in a little-known
country is that one must, like Adam, give his own arbi-
trary common names to many of the objects he ob-
serves. It is very disappointing, too, when one returns
and finds that an appropriate title which one has
bestowed and which, from daily repetition for months,
has become closely associated with the bird or flower,
must be replaced by the name of some describer or

# WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY 3

prefaced, in some instances, by an adjective neither
euphonious nor appropriate.

The most abundant objects in the ditches were grass-
hoppers which tumbled down from the fields above and
could not escape. So here the birds found a feast con-
tinually renewed, where they might eat their fill from
morning until night. The White-rumped Shrikes knew
of this ample supply, but had to manceuvre carefully
to keep out of sight of their rivals, the Sparrow Hawks.
These beautiful butcher-birds kept close to the cactus
tangles. Twice we saw small birds attacked and killed
by the shrikes, and each time, although the onslaught
was made among a large flock of Clay-coloured Spar-
rows, it was a Western Grasshopper Sparrow which was
the victim. Who can tell the reason for this? Did the
glint of gold on the wings of the little finches catch
the shrike’s eye, or did some slight lack of skill in
dodging turn the balance of fortune against them ?
If only we might take, at such moments as these, the
“‘ bird’s-eye-view”” of the shrike, many problems of
evolution and the “survival of the fittest” would
become plain!

One feathered inhabitant of the cactus ditches eluded
identification fora long time. It wasa “chunky” brown
bird, looking more like a big female English Sparrow
than anything else, but with a knack of slipping out of
sight just before one could focus one’s glass. At last
we traced it to Pipzlo, although it little resembled our

& TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

Northern Chewink in actions. Pipilo fuscus brought
us nearer to its special name, but not until later did we
learn that its common name was a literal translation —
Brown Towhee. While we were in Mexico, it was to
us “ Pipilo fuscus,’ which slipped behind the cactus
screen or skimmed up and over the adobe walls — more
mouse than bird.

A closely related but much handsomer bird was the
Green-tailed Towhee, not a Pipilo despite his name,
but intermediate structurally between the true towhees
and the group of White-throated Sparrows. It cer-
tainly reminded one of both groups. Like the Brown
Towhee it kept to the weed tangles of the ditches where
it was easily watched as it fed on the small seeds and
the lesser grasshoppers. It is strikingly marked with
a rufous, almost red cap, and a white throat, grayish
green above and brighter green on the wings and tail.
A mewing note, like that of a Red-eyed Vireo, was the
most common utterance of this bird.

Day after day tiny green-garbed warblers traversed
the ditches, confidingly seeking their diet of smallest
insects, within a few feet of us. What could they be?
We puzzled and puzzled over them in vain. At last
I secured one and we made sure of the identification,
— scientifically, Helminthophila celata lutescens (Ridg-
way); commonly, the Lutescent Warbler. To my mind
a bird in the bush is worth a whole flock in the skin
drawer, but the characters of modern classification

* WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY 3

often require more than the eye and the opera-glass
can reveal. And indeed, aside from the delicate grad-
ations of colour and form, it is often a most difficult
thing to recognize on sight, a bird, the description of
which one has read several weeks previously. Some
character seems to be added or something lacking,
such is the effect of the environment and the excite-
ment of seeing a new bird for the first time.

We took our meals at the delightful £7 Sanatorio,
where one finds a haven of good American cooking in
a land of beans and fried unleavened corn-cakes. The
two-storied patio was always filled with flowers, great
geraniums and heliotropes making the air fragrant by
day; and the immaculate cereus blossoms pouring
forth their perfume in the moonlight. During Janu-
ary and February the entire front of the building was
a mass of purple Bougainvillea.

What a source of curiosity a naturalist and his wife
are to fellow boarders! Many people seem incapable
of believing that any one can be so foolish as to waste
time in watching birds and insects for mere pleasure.
When we would return from one of our camping trips,
this one would have a suspicion that I was secretly
prospecting for gold; another would be sure that I
was surreptitiously locating marketable timber. But
finally one and all expressed astonishment that they had
been living so long with eyes blinded to the beautiful
things of the world. They began to realize that the

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 2

birds of the surrounding gardens and fields were more
than “just birds;” that they had colours and songs,
traits and habits, interesting because of the hidden
meanings of each— for protection or recognition,
for safety of themselves, their mates, or their young.
And behold, the pure gospel of God’s out-of-doors had
won more converts! Then they began to flood us with
questions. To satisfy them all would have necessitated
giving up many walks and rides. So we turned over
to them Mrs. Bailey’s “ Handbook of Western Birds,”
which we had found so useful, and many and strange
were the discoveries that they made. We ourselves
knew only too little about Mexican birds; but when
marvellous notes of pink-breasted, blue-eyed hawks
and long-legged hummingbirds were given us in all
good faith for verification, we gave up. It is indeed
remarkable how differently a bird will appear to a num-
ber of untrained observers. Whether owing to a wide-
spread partial colour-blindness, or to the elusive glints
of sunlight on a bird’s plumage, the range of colours
and size with which a single unfortunate bird may be
endowed, is astonishing !

Although in our walks about Guadalajara we saw
thousands upon thousands of cactus-trees, their strange
structure and appearance never ceased to impress us.
There was nothing to which they could be compared ;
the great trunks and massive branches were very dif-
ferent from those in our Northern conservatories. Only

in the tubular yellow flowers does the nopal cactus
seem to have affinity with other plants. These flowers
spring adventitiously from the sides and edges of the
pulpy, spiny pads — one can hardly call them leaves.
A discovery which was as interesting to us as though
we were the first to record it was that the oval pad is
the unit of which the entire tree is composed. The two
or three terminal pads were usually bright green and
covered with groups of the unpleasant spines. The
next was greenish brown in hue, with blunted spines
and the succeeding ones merged more and more com-
pletely into one another, at the same time becoming
thicker and developing a false kind of bark. This
resulted in a rough, brown-barked trunk and spineless
branches, which appeared identical with those of old,
gnarled apple-trees. A close examination would, how-
ever, show faint traces, down to the very ground, of
the internodes between the units. How curious, too,
when a dead branch fell, to see a tightly wrapped
bundle of delicate lace fibres instead of splinters and
decayed wood. We wondered how the birds could
alight so suddenly upon the spiny pads without being
wounded. Indeed one Lark Sparrow was impaled as it
attempted to dart through a maze of the sharp points.
But mockingbirds and towhees, finches and shrikes
seemed never to hesitate an instant in perching.

Two species of hummingbirds were always to be
found along the ditches, conspicuous to eye and ear.

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

When first we caught sight of a tiny form perched
upon a twig, we realized that we were indeed in a new
world of birds, for this was no Ruby-throat.

To our Eastern eyes this was a strange, foreign bird;
but a Californian would have recognized it at once. It
was the Costa Hummingbird, like ourselves, a winter
visitor to these parts. His mite of a body was green
above and whitish below, while his head was encased
in a marvellous helmet of burnished violet, an ame-
thystine scale armour, which flashed blue, green, and
violet by turns. This was the most abundant hum-
mingbird of the Guadalajara ditches, during the first
week in January. The first individual at which we
had a good look proved to be in exceptionally perfect
plumage. The others of his kind were young birds in
moult, with the iridescent feathers few and scattered,
the majority being still buried in their enfolding
sheaths. After a week all the individuals of this spe-
cies disappeared and we saw no more during our stay.

A second hummingbird, typical of the ditches, was
clad in green and buff, with a gorget of gold, green,
and fiery red. This was the Rufous Hummingbird, and
we were glad to see him in the life; for his fame as
a traveller had long been known to us. Here he was
near the northern limit of his winter home; but in the
spring his race will hum away to the mountains of
the North, some content to nest in the higher altitudes
of the Western States, but many brave little fellows

traversing Canada, on and on until they sight the snow
peaks of Mt. St. Ehas in Alaska, far north of Sitka.
The little fellows were ever squeaking and humming
about our ears, disputing our invasion of their hunt-
ing-grounds.

These noisy little chuparosas, — flower-suckers, —
as the Mexicans call them, not only flicked the insects
from the flower-cups, but spent much time humming
through the ditches, low over the ground. We could
not imagine their errand, as it seemed hardly possible
that they were attracted by the grasshoppers, some of
which had bodies larger and heavier than their own.
A struggle between a Rufous Hummingbird and a
giant hopper would indeed be exciting! What a sight
it would be to see the wee bird perched vulture-like
upon the huge insect and dismembering it !

When, by patient watching and the dissection of
one hummingbird’s stomach, we discovered the truth,
we found it indeed to be more strange than fiction.
Like almost all the birds of the ditches the humming-
birds were really feeding chiefly upon grasshoppers.
The sentinel Sparrow Hawks seemed to capture the
largest insects, pulling them apart before swallowing.
Those which were snatched up by the shrikes were of a
smaller size, while the finches and lesser sparrows fed
upon the partly grown hoppers. We were delighted to
find that this corresponding diminution in size, correlat-
ing the birds and their food, was even carried a step

pene 0G ST Poems

% TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3euss

farther, so that the tiny hummingbirds were provided
for. Wee harlequin grasshoppers, gaudily attired in
black and white, yellow and red, were snapped up by
the score and were just of a size for a mouthful for a
chuparosa. These miniature grasshoppers were full
grown and widely distributed throughout the country.

After a moment’s silence in one of the cactus-shaded
ditches, the little inhabitants with fur and scales made
their presence known by sudden scamperings and
dartings here and there. It was here we began to
learn the lesson which week after week in Mexico en-
forced, that a rustle among the leaves, slight or vigor-
ous, nine times out of ten was made by a lizard, the
commotion being out of all proportion to the size of
the reptile.

A forty-inch Iguana could steal almost noiselessly
through a mass of brittle leaves, while the flight of
a diminutive “ blue-tail,” not more than three inches
from head to tail-tip, would sometimes sound like a
whole band of scratching towhees or white-throats.
It was hard not to watch instinctively for the supposed
bird in the near-by bush, and the minutes we spent at
first in this fruitless way, if collected, would equal many
hours.

Pouched rats (Geomys) were very abundant in
the ditches, and scores of their burrows tunnelled the
sides. We occasionally caught one in a box-trap and
made it turn out the contents of its capacious cheeks.

It was astonishing to see the amount of seeds which
one of these creatures could pack on each side of its
yellow incisors. No wonder
the weeds produced seeds
in such quantities if the
Pouched Rat was only one
of many creatures which
enjoyed the sweet meat of
the embryo plants. These
rats were very pugnacious
and constantly fought
among themselves, chasing

one another and clinching Danae a ee ha ee
(Showing cheek pouches)

— biting severely, if we
judge from the sharpness of the squeaks which pro-
ceeded from the rolling, tumbling combatants.

Spermophiles — prairie-dog-like, but with their
backs decorated with white lines and dots — surprised
us by peeping out of the entrances of their ditch homes
and squeaking excitedly to each other the moment we
disappeared around a bend. When a towhee was
startled by us and saw no means of escape, it some-
times darted into the nearest hole, from which, if the
inhabitant was a Spermophile, the bird was promptly
ejected by the owner, —choosing the less immediate
danger of flying out past our very faces.

One could not take a walk on the outskirts of the
city without noticing the miniature whirlwinds, six or

eight often being in sight at once. On the alkali plains
these reached their highest development, but here
among the corn-stubble we could watch their formation
and motion on a lesser scale. When the air about us
was perfectly calm, a circling of dust might begin fif-
teen or twenty feet away, which increased in strength
and velocity until the vortex was plainly discernible.
It usually moved steadily in one direction, but would
sometimes make a sharp angle without warning. The
dust and debris were now drawn up until a wavering
brown finger extended fifty feet or more into the air.
The summit tapered to a thread and the whole was
frequently thrown into violent contortions without
breaking the continuity. Such a column might pass
unchanged out of sight, or it might break off at the
base, and the mass of leaves and dust go sailing up
through the air, until some counter-current interrupted
the whirling, and the particles drifted to earth. Some-
times a sparrow was surprised at his feast of weed-
seeds and as he took to wing, his feathers were ruffled
and his balance almost upset by the aerial maelstrom.

There were certain birds which, like the House
Finches, identified themselves with the city itself and,
indeed, with almost all the larger towns and villages in
Mexico. Not an English Sparrow seemed to have found
its way to this fortunate country, and taking the place
of these feathered pests was the dainty Audubon
Warbler, which is almost identical with our well-

known Myrtle Warbler of the Eastern United States,
except that the throat of the former is yellow instead
of white. But ours is a bird of the woods and parks,
while the Audubon haunts the patios and adobe walls,
showing the utmost familiarity with men and animals.

Every city had its corps of feathered scavengers of
which Audubon Warbler was the least, as the Turkey
Vulture was the greater. For the little bird had for-
saken the trees and insects, which elsewhere are its
natural habitat and food, and found more to its liking
among the tortilla and frijole crumbs, with perhaps
a sprinkling of the spiders which so love the ill-kept
patios of the poorer classes. Although we occasionally
found it far from the haunts of men, yet we shall always
associate the yellow, gray, and black of this warbler
with the heart of the towns.

Almost as familiar and tame were the little Inca
Doves, scaled from head to foot and with long, tapering
tails. These brown, bobbing forms of the dust flew up
with a flurry of wings from beneath our feet on almost
every pathway. They had as little fear of man as the
chickens and pigs which disputed the right of way.

Two species of grackles, or blackbirds, were always
found in the parks and gardens of Mexican cities,
at least in winter, — the small, yellow-eyed, iridescent
Brewer Grackle, and the grandest of all his kind, the
Great-tailed Grackle. The latter was a conspicuous
feature of all the public plazas and parks, its black

form flapping slowly past, with sharp-keeled tail spread
wide behind. Their voices were surprisingly musical —
for grackles — and contrasted strongly with the harsh
utterances of the other blackbirds and cowbirds.

One of the sweetest of bird voices was heard about
the adobe houses of the city every day —the drop-
ping song of the Mexican Canyon Wren, but, as in the
song of a caged bird, something seemed lacking, some
quality which we knew should be in the strain, although
we now heard it for the first time. These little dark-
feathered bundles of tireless energy would creep like
mice up the adobe walls, and from the top the white
throats would pour forth the gushing floods of melody.
Later, on our camping trips to the wild barrancas and
gorges, we heard the Canyon Wren in his true home
and his song at its best ——a dominant strain in the
melody of Mexican Nature. The beauty of the birds’
natural wild environment gave to them and to their
song a charm which was absent in the birds of Guada-
lajara. After our return to the city, memory always
supplied the rocks, the ferns, the accompaniment of
falling water, the — something lacking. Once, shortly
before we said good-bye to the country of which we
have grown so fond, when “Senorita” was overcome
by the heat, a Canyon Wren flew into the open patio
window, perched on a chair-back, and sang his little
song with all his might — soothing pain with a flood
of pleasant memories.

sone 6 62 Bonn

& WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY 3%

I have mentioned flocks of the Cuernavaca House
Finch as haunting the suburban stubble-fields, and
many of these birds were also found in the city itself.
During one whole week a brilliant-plumaged male sang
to us from the same tree each day as we passed on our
early morning walk— a sweet, well-modulated, pleasing
strain which revealed the reason for the numerous cap-
tives in the bamboo cages hanging in so many doorways
and patios. These were, however, more rightly yellow
than purple finches, a caged life producing this change
in colour after the first moult, which becomes more
pronounced with each succeeding shedding of the
feathers. Once I saw a wild male bird singing to a
caged female, and again a male at liberty offered a beak-
ful of straw to a brown lady bird in a bamboo prison.

Our most pleasant memory of these birds is of a mated
pair in full plumage on an adobe wall, the male bring-
ing straw after straw to his mate and piling them at
her feet, she paying no attention for a time, absently
preening her feathers. But before we left them she
made two trips, carrying part of the pile to a ledge
under the tiles where the foundation of the nest was
already in place. The male sang almost continuously,
even uttering a few chirps and twitters while flying
up with a straw in his beak.

There are few people in the western portion of our .
country who do not know the well-named Yellow-
headed Blackbird, but for us Easterners its habitat is

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

only the handbook and the museum. From the former
we learn that it ranges south over the Mexican table-
land, but no Yellow-head appeared to us during the
winter, until one day in March, about six o’clock in the
evening, we were taken wholly by surprise by seeing
a male in full plumage perched upon the top spray of
amesquite-tree. Soon others joined him, many likewise
golden of head and neck, and a few more sombre
females. After this day the evening flight became a
regular occurrence, flocks of hundreds coming from
the open country to perch in the upper branches of the
larger trees in plaza and patio.

From where we satin the evening, four or five trees
bare of leaves were visible and almost at the same
moment, at the close of each day, the birds appeared
from somewhere and alighted on the bare branches.
Never had I seen birds perch so close together as did
these Yellow-headed Blackbirds. They formed literally
a solid mass. When the birds were frightened, the
several trees gave up a myriad swift forms, which some-
times swooped past us with a great roar of wings.
Their liquid chirps and gurgles were not unmusical,
and when the last rays of the setting sun were reflected
from five hundred golden breasts, all facing the same
way, it was a most resplendent sight. When all had
arrived, as at some preconcerted signal, every bird took
to wing and the flocks distributed themselves in the
neighbouring trees for the night. As we stood near

one of these roosts, a perfect babble of voices was
audible above the rustling leaves and twigs. As dark-
ness settled down the confusion grew less, the chirps
more individual, and when the swift tropic twilight had
passed, all was silent, save for a last subdued sleepy
gurgle — and the world of Yellow-heads was at rest.

A GUADALAJARA EXPRESSMAN

CHAPTER IV
OASIS AND DESERT

UADALAJARA is surrounded by a most
barren country, but as every desert has
its oasis, so this charming Mexican city

turn again and again. It is reached by a short ride
on a mule-car, this alone always promising excitement.
If the flattened rails, in the uncertainty as to whether
they will squeeze the wheels until they shriek, or
whether they will allow the car to ramble gutterward
at will, are bewildering, the switches are positively
uncanny in the remarkable actions which they cause a
car to perform. Rarely the car succeeds in proceeding
upon the track intended. Sometimes it fails altogether,
and there ensues a bewildering mixup of six mules,
the two cars running together as closely as the kick-
ing animals will permit. Again, the front truck will
obediently follow the tugs of the mules, while the rear
wheels endeavour to side-track themselves, as a result
swinging the car crosswise in the street. But no one
ever loses temper, or hurries, so difficulties unwind in
due season.

OASIS AND DESERT

The most remarkable manceuvre is a flying switch
performed with a single mule, a diminutive car, and
a bridge built across a sand-gully on a road leading to
the northwest of the city. As the car approaches the

THE OUTSKIRTS OF GUADALAJARA

bridge, a full gallop is attained by means of constant
and vigorous applications of the whip, while the con-
ductor hurls stones and Spanish epithets at the wildly
flying mule. At the critical moment, just as the open
ties are reached, the mule’s traces, in some inexplicable
way, are cast off, he is swerved into a path at the left
of the road, and, well trained by long experience,
dashes down across the gully and up on the other side,
where he trots slowly along the track. Simultaneously
with his frantic scramble, the car’s momentum carries

woe BT Sporn

it across the bridge and up to the place where the
mule is jogging along, when his traces are refastened
and the regular gallop is resumed. As a spectacular
performance it 1s worthy of being instituted as a circus
feature !

The way to Agua Azul, or the “ Blue Water,” as the
oasis is called, is along a path shaded by two lines of
willows, and a few minutes after leaving the city one
alights in the midst of a garden full of old-fashioned
flowers in blossom. A little way beyond, a stream
broadens out into a good-sized lake dotted with little
wooded islands. In all directions, green marsh and
undergrowth and luxuriant willows offer ideal condi-
tions for bird life. Here birds of many kinds have
congregated for untold years, and a wise governor,
loving them as a boy and looking forward to their
ultimate fate, had a law passed as soon as he came to
power, forbidding all shooting and trapping in Agua
Azul.

The birds, here as everywhere in the world, instantly
appreciating their security, haunt the spot in myriads
and are remarkably tame. Guadalajara has no need of
aviaries and flying cages, for here is one prepared by
Nature. Unlike so many bird-beloved spots in our
United States, it has not been abused by the people,
and has not had its protective laws enacted only when
the time has forever passed for their usefulness.

The little public park or garden at the edge of Aqua

OASIS AND DESERT

Azul was not large, but it was filled to overflowing
with the best of all flowers — the old-fashioned ones.
Poppies, petunias, marigolds, and hollyhocks flashed
colour rank upon rank, with larkspur as homelike as
ever grew in a New England front yard, while helio-
tropes stretched their purple heads five feet above the

THE FLYING SWITCH

ground, losing no sweetness nor gaining aught of
coarseness from their luxuriant growth.

Apple and orange trees are scattered among the
willows, and upon a single branch we often found ripe
fruit and fresh-blown blossoms. Through and among

snmmnee 69. dow

um ~TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

all the beauty dashed the Vermilion Flycatchers. No-
where else in Mexico did we see them as tame as in
this beautiful garden. A male in full plumage seemed
to outburn every other scarlet object in Nature. His
back, wings, and tail were dark gray, as if the scarlet
had really burnt itself out in these portions. His round,
full crest and underparts, from bill to tail, were flam-
ing brilliant red. There were also numbers of young
males, scarlet only to the breast, and females with
throats and breasts of cooler, grayish hues. Their
favourite perches were the stakes which supported the
vines and weaker plants, and thence they dashed
groundward for small moths and grasshoppers. No
note was heard save when one bird was pursued by
another; then the two streaks of crimson gave utter-
ance to loud, shrill chirps.

This beautiful creature must have had some talisman
which guarded him from the fate which overhangs
brilliantly coloured birds, for he seemed to have no fear
of showing his beauty. There was no attempt at skulk-
ing or concealment. He selected a bare perch, with his
breast turned toward the sun, and now and then flashed
out and back—a spot of brilliance which could not
be overlooked. Although we watched long and care-

fully, we never saw a Vermilion Flycatcher assailed or
threatened by shrike or hawk. Sometimes a Ground
Squirrel rushed at one in a rage, but the bark of a
Ground Squirrel is much worse than its bite, so this

OASIS AND DESERT 3¥emus
sham threatening meant little and the flycatcher acted
as if he knew it.

The sole thing from which these brilliant birds might
have derived protection was the abundance of red

Photographed by R. H. Beebe

BELTED KINGFISHER

flowers and the occasional solitary scarlet leaf. From
the railroad train we frequently mistook flower or leaf
for bird. But after all, it is probable that his immun-
ity from danger is due to the well-known pugnacity
of the race of flycatchers.

We found flycatchers abundant in species and
numbers throughout Mexico, but none more beautiful

* TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO &

or vivacious than the well-named Pyrocephalus. How
we longed to see him at home, when building his nest,
but as we could not wait for him until May, we could
only feast our eyes upon his beauty and listen for some
hint of his love-notes.

Enormous grackles flocked among the upper
branches of the willows, their rich notes bubbling and
gurgling forth in a constant stream. A low adobe
wall, less than a foot in height, shut out the marsh
from the garden, and, as we approached this, a Belted
Kingfisher flew to a stake and rattled loudly, then
dived and began his morning’s fishing. Like ourselves,
he was probably a winter sojourner from the North,
but before we returned in April something would have
whispered to him that the ice on his mill-pond was
breaking up, and one moonlight night he would spring
into the air and beat steadily toward the Rio Grande,
heedless of fish or rest, until he reached the branch
which, year after year, has bent beneath his weight.
The roses and orange blossoms will then be many
leagues to the southward, but could the bird feel as
we, would he not feel a keener thrill at the sight of
the first arbutus pushing up by the snow-bank, just
as our pulses leap more quickly at the thought of the
good old virile talk and laughter echoing through the
keen spring air of the bird’s Northern fishing-grounds
than at the smooth, drowsy sound of the Mexican
tongue? One may travel to the ends of the earth and put

OASIS AND DESERT

half the globe between him and his native land, yet,
when there comes to eye, ear, or nostril the veriest hint,
— ascent, a sound, a glimpse of feathers blue and white,
—the mind pours forth a flood of memory which
eclipses, for the moment, all nearer, stranger scenes.
Over the marsh wall ahead of us scrambled a score
of ivory-billed coots, splashing down among the water
hyacinths and swimming slowly away, without the
least sign of fear. Beyond were Blue-winged Teal,
Pintails, and Mallard Ducks; while several Shoveller
drakes, in their beautiful spring dress, were noisily
sifting the mud through the /amed/e@ of their broad bills.

A PINTAIL DUCK, A CAPTIVE WILD BIRD

Nature has given this duck an awkward, heavy-looking
bill, which, however, serves a most useful purpose ; but
she has more than made it up in the beauty of colouring
of the plumage — a livery of white, black, green, chest-
nut, and delicate blue. A quartet of Cinnamon Teal
sprang into the air from where they had been feeding
at our feet. This was a species of duck new to us,
easily recognized by the bright cimnamon colour on
head, neck, and breast. Here were three birds in sight
marked with that pale, beautiful blue— one of the
most delicate of Nature’s hues.

The dense mass of water hyacinths, for many yards
around, was eaten close to the level of the water,
testifying to the abundance of wild birds at this spot.
The coots now reached the opposite bank, twenty feet
away, and settled down for a nap or walked slowly
about. Their peculiar curtailed appearance gave them
a lifeless, wooden effect which was increased by their
awkward gait, lifting high their great green-lobed toes.
If one were to remodel a coot it would seem more rea-
sonable to reduce the size and weight of its feet and
add somewhat to the diminutive white bill. But Nature
has fashioned the bird thus in order that it may safely
tread upon the quaking marsh and pick out the small
snails and worms from among the thread-like roots of
the hyacinths.

As we continued our walk along the stream, the lake
came suddenly into view, and a beautiful sight was

we TH Porn

OASIS AND DESERT %

before us. Less than fifty yards away a company of two
or three hundred ducks were sunning themselves, all
crowded together on the bank. On a promontory still
nearer was a flock of seven or eight hundred White-

GREEN-WINGED TEAL, CAPTIVE WILD BIRDS

faced Glossy Ibises, many sleeping balanced on one leg,
others preening their feathers. Two large grebes, per-
haps the Western species, floating out near the middle
of the lake, completed the tale of the water-birds.
Beyond a field of alfalfa, with its dense green foliage
shot with the blue flower-heads, was a stone wall, and
on this two great American Ravens were busily engaged
in feeding upon something which they held down with
their feet. At first glance we thought it must be the

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO :

bodies of small birds, but we soon observed the ravens
flying back and forth from the stream, each time
bringing a hyacinth plant, which they carried to the
stone wall and carefully examined, evidently devouring
the many small snails and worms which found shelter
among the roots.

The most conspicuous flycatcher of the cactus coun-
try was the Ash-throated, a noisy bird, feeding chiefly
on the insects attracted by the cactus blossoms, and
when these were scarce, devouring many varieties of
small fleshy fruits. It was very similar to our North-
ern friend the Crested Flycatcher, but was paler yel-
low below, and, as its common name implies, its throat
was almost white. As the two ravens rose at our
approach, one of these flycatchers appeared from a
field beyond, and kingbird-like, gave a thrashing to
first one and then the other, descending with his full
force upon head and back and more than once sending
fluffs of black to the ground.

When both ravens had disappeared, the flycatcher
returned and instantly gave his attention to a Western
Red-tailed Hawk. Uttering his loud che-hoo’! che-hoo'!
the brave little creature dashed at the bird of prey,
striking blow after blow, the hawk meanwhile never
attempting to retaliate, but making every effort to
escape from his small tormentor. Thus early in our
trip the Ash-throated Flycatcher established a repu-
tation for bravery which it always sustained.

We learned that early in the morning even greater
numbers of ducks congregated here, so one day an
early start brought us to the Blue Water before the
morning chill was out of the air. A search some dis-
tance upstream revealed a fallen log bridge, which we
crossed, and, hidden by the tall undergrowth, we made
our way down to the marsh bordering the lake itself.
Crouching among the reeds at the edge, we enjoyed
an uninterrupted view of this paradise of water-birds.
Hundreds of mppling wakes intersected each other as
coots, gallinules, ducks of many species, and occasion-
ally sandpipers, swam here and there; the webbed
swimmers turning tail upward and gleaning from the
muddy bottom; the snipes and sandpipers scurrying
in the shallows. Out near the centre of the shallow
lake, near the edge of a small islet, were several birds
which we had long looked forward to seeing — Black-
necked Stilts. Perfectly unconscious of being watched,
they were taking an early morning bath, doubling up
their slender legs and beating the water with their
wings, exactly as flamingoes bathe. When thoroughly
wet they flew one after another to a mud-bank, shook
the water from their plumage in a shower of drops, and
arranged every feather in place, standing in a row
facing the rising sun.

Ducks whistled close over our heads, arriving in
small flocks and settling upon the water with a slither
which raised a multitude of ripples. And now a louder

sas wnt TT Porn

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO &

wing-beat drew our eyes upward and a dozen cormo-
rants —the Mexican species doubtless — shot past.
Herons began to arrive — Great Blues, which sailed
gracefully to the open water and alighted, becoming
stiff and narrow, shapeless things until, assured that
all was safe, they picked their way slowly about. Little
Green Herons came close to us, creeping like shadows
among the reeds, and snatching at the big flies which
buzzed about.

Seven beautiful American EKgrets trailed one after
the other to the willows on the island and alighted, but
they did not descend to the water durmg our visit.

AMERICAN EGRET, CAPTIVE WILD BIRD

sg OASIS AND DESERT

They called up a host of pleasant memories; for we
last saw these rare birds a year ago when the sun was
setting across the waters of the Indian River in Florida.
It was difficult to realize that even here, far south of
the Tropic of Cancer, we were yet at only the very
northern part of the egrets’ range. Their white forms
are found from here to the lagoons of Patagonia.
They ask nothing from man, save leave to feed upon
the fish and snails of the swamps, and they offer their
beauty of form and feather to make a beautiful land
still more beautiful. Hitherto man’s love of gold and
woman’s vanity have overbalanced all humane and
esthetic sentiments. May some good fortune protect
the egrets in the wild fastnesses of the southern con-
tinent, so that our country may, little by little, be
restocked with these beautiful creatures !

The smaller sandpipers were legion in number, run-
ning back and forth along the edge of the water. The
greatest surprise which the Blue Water had to offer
came when we were about to rise from our cramped
positions. Without warning, five birds appeared from
among the thick reeds at our left and walked quickly,
with mincing steps, to the water’s edge, where they
mingled unnoticed with the lesser waders. We knew
them at once for jacanas. This quintet of birds at once
absorbed our attention. We had read that the colours
of the plumage of the Mexican Jacana were mostly
black and a rich, dark chestnut; but from observing

these birds we should not have known it, so change-
able were their feathers under the rays of the early
morning sun. All that was lacking was for them to
perform them wing-dance, such as Hudson describes
m the case of a South American species. This was
denied us, but they had a way of raising first one wing
and then the other straight up, showing plainly the
horny spur at the bend of the wing. This action was
as graceful as it was inexplicable. The long thin toes
and claws showed how easily they could pick their way
over the floating lily-pads. The conspicuous shield of
orange skin spread out upon the forehead was another
bizarre touch in the appearance of these strange birds.
When at last they sprang into the air for a short flight,
each wing gave forth flash after flash of rich yellow;
and by this characteristic we were always able to detect
the presence of this species, even among a hundred
other birds.

The roar of wings was like a high wind as we raised
our heads above the surrounding reeds. Scores of birds,
whose proximity we had never suspected, hurled them-
selves into water and air. The lake was churned into
a foam as the hundreds of webbed feet thrashed its
surface, and a sweet, shrill chorus of peets! sweets!
arose from the cloud of shore-birds. The yellow wing-
quills of the jacanas glisstened in the sunlight as they
wheeled outward; the wing speculums of the ducks
flashed like mirrors. Yet with all the uproar and

startled flight, the alarm was very different from that
of Northern birds fleeing from the man witha gun. In
a few minutes, with the exception of a clear area in
our vicinity, all were feeding as before.

We missed the Glossy Ibises of our first visit, but
before we left they arose from their roost desertwards,
coming in a great flock high in air. It is impossible
to describe the beauty of their flight. The wings
and general appearance of a tern, gull, or swallow
gives us a hint that we may expect something excep-
tionally fine from them when they launch themselves
upon the air, but these curved-billed, long-legged birds
suggest ability to wade and run, rather than to ma-
noeuvre on the wing. However, as when one sees Wood
Ibises soaring, the flight of a flock of Glossy Ibises
changes one’s whole estimate of the abilities of the
species.

As one bird, the flock turns and dips and swoops
toward the surface of the pond, rushing so close to
its surface that the Great Blue Herons dodge. Then
up they swerve again, and the sunlight is reflected at
exactly the same instant from every iridescent wing.
As they veer sharply in front of us, the full spread
of every individual bird’s back and wings is turned
toward us; then, almost between winks, the Spirit of
the flock has brought the profile of each ibis in sharp
silhouette against the sky, — half a hundred birds
which seem like one with nine and forty shadows.

sii nee SI Boon

~ TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

I would give much to solve this mystery, shared by
schools of fish and swarms of insects. Perhaps the
closest we may approximate to this unity of many is
when the rhythm of a waltz sways two dancers as one,
or when improvising on stringed instruments with
a person with whom one is in perfect sympathy, the
sequence of harmony comes simultaneously to each.
But the birds have no rhythm to aid them; the same
ground is never gone twice over.

And now there comes, as if from the very heart of
the sun, a second flock equal in numbers to the first,
and the two vibrate back and forth over the lake. Once
the Spirit of the flock —as it pleases me to call this
sympathy of movement — appears undecided, as the
birds hesitate a moment over a bit of marsh. A half
dozen alight for an instant, but the time is not yet,
and quickly they leap into the air again and seem
almost to snap into their places. Finally, both flocks
sweep in a horizontal plane over the marsh, brmg up
with a sudden short curve, and two hundred wings are
folded and a hundred birds begin busily probing the
hyacinths and muddy shallows; the compelling power
has dissolved into entities, each perfect and individual,
— the Spirit of the flock is no more.

The unwatered country about Guadalajara fulfilled
our idea of a desert, but when we saw a real alkali
waste, we agreed that the former region in no wise

ERS
Scott, photographer

THE ORGAN CACTUS

OASIS AND DESERT

deserved the opprobrium. Long before the actual rains
begin, vegetation seems to feel a quickening in the air;
the plants scent the coming moisture weeks before-
hand and spring to life, — except on the alkali plain.
The very last glimpse we had of it showed no sign of
spring, no hint of green or of returning life, no resur-
rection of flowers or even of blades of grass.

At night the moon looked down upon a desolate arid
plain stretching away to the mountains on the horizon.
The air was chill and a bleak wind searched out every
fold in our blankets; we might almost have been
spending a night on the Arctic tundras. Absolute
silence reigned; neither coyote nor bird of the mght
broke the awful hush. If one was wakeful, it was a
relief at times to grind one’s heels into the pumice,
or to speak—any sound making a welcome break
in the everlasting silence of the desert’s sleep. With
scarce a moment of dawn, the sun flooded everything,
a grateful warmth for a while, but soon to make us
gasp in its breathless heat.

Where a thin, blasted rind of red-brown grass-stems
partly covered the white dust, parched mesquite bushes
found root, and strange, uncouth organ cacti reared
their columns, like mammoth candelabra. Here wild-
eyed cattle roamed uneasily, nibbling occasionally at
the bitter grasses.

Farther out in the desert, where even the mesquite
and cacti failed, we rode slowly across the parched sur-

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO #3

face, wondering if a single living thing could endure
the bitterness of the earth and air. In the distance
moved the whirlwinds of dust, tall, thin columns with
perfectly distinct outlines, undulating slowly here and
there — both life and death in their silent movement.
A distant vaquero is the focus of a great cloud of white
dust raised by his horse’s hoofs. Pools of dark water
with white, crystalled edges now appeared, the liquid
seeming little different from the solid plain.

Most remarkable it seemed to us when a Great Blue
Heron now and then flew silently up from the desert
and flapped slowly out of sight. What could possibly
attract these birds to such a place of death as this —
distant even from the bitter pools ? Twice a great ebony
raven sailed croaking through the dusty air over our
heads —the same bird repassing. No other life was
visible save the balanced black specks against the blue,
as invariably a part of the Mexican day as the stars are
of the night. Herons, vultures, and raven all moved
slowly, seeming less alive than the distant columns of
dust.

But we felt the real Spirit of the eternal desert when,
as we turned to retrace our steps, we spied a something
white, a something different from the surrounding
earth, and the spell of past ages fell upon us. The
bitter water was ever drying up, the whirlwinds carried
the dust from place to place, the birds came and went
as they pleased, but this relic of an elephant of the

olden time brought past and present into close touch.
What scenes has the desert looked upon since this Im-
perial Mammoth staggered dying into the quagmire
which proved its tomb? The dust caused our eyes and
throat to smart, and we reluctantly turned our ponies’
heads on the back trail, much as we should have liked
to stay and search out the secrets of these fossils, —

FOSSIL TOOTH OF IMPERIAL MAMMOTH IN THE ALKALI DESERT

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

more fascinating, in their way, than the living beasts
and birds which peopled the tropics beyond. For sev-
eral months in the year a portion of this desert is buried
under at least two feet of water. At the beginning of
the dry season, when this evaporates, the barren wastes
yield their only crop, —a rich harvest of fossils. Great
curved ribs, mighty thigh-bones, and large, deeply
furrowed teeth are washed to the surface —a stony
harvest of ivory and enamel, relics of herds of Impe-
rial Mammoths (Zlephas imperator), which roamed
the earth when man was first beginning to know his
power.

One of the most wonderful exhibitions of bird-life in
Mexico came to us as we left the alkali plain and rode
among the mesquite scrub. A confused mass of black
appeared in the air which, as we advanced, resolved
itself into hundreds of individual specks. The atmos-
phere was so deceptive that what, at first, appeared to
be a vast cloud of gnats close at hand was soon seen
to be a multitude of birds, blackbirds perhaps, until we
approached and thought them ravens, and finally, when
a quarter of a mile away, we knew that they were vul-
tures. Three bwros lay dead upon the plain, — this we
knew yesterday, — and here were the scavengers. Never
had we seen vultures more numerous or in more orderly
array. A careful scrutiny through our glasses showed
many scores of Black and Turkey Buzzards walking
about and feeding upon the carcasses of the animals,

and from this point there extended upward into the air
a vast inverted cone of birds, all circling in the same
direction. From where we sat upon our horses there
seemed not a single one out of place, the outline of the
cone was as smooth and distinct as though the birds
were limited in their flight to this particular area. It
was a rare sight, the sun lighting up every bird on the
farther side and shadowing black as night those nearest
us. Through one’s partly closed eyes the whole mass
appeared composed of a myriad of slowly revolving
wheels, intersecting, crossing each other’s orbits, but
never breaking their circular outline. The thousands
of soaring forms held us spellbound for minutes be-
fore we rode closer.

Now a change took place, as gradual but as sure as
the shifting clouds of asunset. Until this moment there
was a tendency to concentrate at the base of the cone,
that portion becoming more and more black until it
seemed a solid mass of rapidly revolving forms. But at
our nearer approach this concentration ceased, and there
was perfect equilibrium for a time; then, as we rode
up a gentle slope into clearer view, a wonderful ascent
began. Slowly the oblique spirals swing upward. The
gigantic cone, still perfect in shape, lifts clear of the
ground and drifts away, the summit rises in a curve
which, little by little, frays out into ragged lines, all
drifting in the same direction, and before our eyes the
thousands of birds merge into a shapeless, undulating

ati wee 89 Berrie

nua, TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Sets:

cloud, which rises and rises, spreading out more and
more, until the eye can no longer distinguish the birds

which, from vultures, dwindle to motes, floating and
lost among the clouds.

GREEN HERON

CHAPTER V
THE MESQUITE WILDERNESS

SHEN our excursions began to take in a
wider field, leaving behind the corn-
4 stubble and ditches and even the semi-

{ desert wastes beyond, we found ourselves
in a trackless wilderness of mesquite and cactus. Wher-
ever one stood he seemed surrounded with an open
growth of the dry and dusty trees just too high to see
over. A few steps farther they appeared less in height.
When these were reached, the same monotonous
glimpses of more mesquite, more gnarly cactus, was all
that was seen, and for mile upon mile one was alter-
nately stimulated with the hope of a more extensive
view and disappointed by the result. No low vegetation
covered the white earth, no water was to be found for
leagues around, yet at times the spiny, dry-leafed trees
swarmed with birds, all — with one exception — garbed
in gray or earthy hues, in perfect tone with their sur-
roundings.

The exception — the Vermilion Flycatchers — more
than made up for the sombre colours of the other birds.
In such a place, in middle March, dozens of the color-
aditos, — little red ones, — as the Mexicans call them,

4 TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Zffsnn

might be seen carrying on their courtship with enthu-
siasm, heedless of the blinding heat. Half-hidden on
a spray of thorn-bush perched a shy coloradita, her
dull striped breast and darker back merging softly into
the gray environment. But ardent admirers had found
her out, and one after the other tried their utmost
to outdo each other in the little performance which
Mother Nature had taught them. All thought of pur-
suing the gnats and gray-winged flies which swarmed
about the cactus blossoms was gone, and, quivering with
eagerness, the brilliant little fellows put their whole
heart into their aerial dance.

Up shoots one from a mesquite tree, with full, rounded
crest, and breast puffed out until it seems a floating
ball of vermilion—buoyed up on vibrating wings.
Slowly, by successive upward throbs, the bird ascends,
at each point of vibrating rest uttering his little love
song, —a cheerful ching-tink-a-le-tink ! ching-tink-a-
le-tink ! which is the utmost he can do. When at the
limit of his flight, fifty or seventy-five feet above our
heads, he redoubles his efforts, and the ching and the
tinks rapidly succeed each other. Suddenly, his little
strength exhausted, the suitor drops to earth almost
vertically in a series of downward swoops, and alights
near the wee gray form for which he at present exists.
He watches eagerly for some sign of favour, but a rival
is already climbing skyward, whose feathers seem no
brighter than his, whose simple lay of love is no more

eas 2 IQ Born

eager, no more tender, yet some subtle fate, with work-
ings too fine for our senses, decides against the first
suitor, and, before the second bird has regained his
perch, the female flies low over the cactus-pads, fol-
lowed by the breathless performer.

Even after the choice was made and the two birds
remained perched close together, the male occasionally
performed his singing flight, his mate sometimes
watching him, sometimes coquettishly ignoring his
efforts and continuing her short darts after flying
insects. Several times we noticed mated Vermilion
Flycatchers in company with one or two young birds
of last year. These were doubtless families which had
remained united all this time.

To a person unfamiliar with the birds of Mexico
and the Western United States, the mesquites were full
of surprises. Occasionally a brownish gray form darted
across our path, and, folding its wings, continued its
course upon the ground with swift, running hops,
darting behind each bush and clod of earth. A

moment’s watching, and its curiosity forcing its head

>?
into view, we noticed the most striking character of
the Curve-billed Thrasher. Whether we call him
brownish gray or grayish brown, his plumage is so
uniformly characterless in tone that it seems to change
with the position of the bird. When on the ground
the tone seems grayish white ; when among the mesquite

the hue darkens and fits in with the dull stems and
assees wna 93 Born

: TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

thorns. A true native of the mesquite wilderness this,
sharing his thorny home with a few Western Mockers
and a great many White-rumped Shrikes. Indeed the
latter had the upper hand here, far outnumbering the
scattering of Sparrow Hawks, the reverse of the case
near the cities and railroads.

A strange little trilling song once drew our steps
toward a mesquite in which several tiny birds were
hopping and singing. Their little bodies were clad in
dull gray, with a black band crossing through the eyes
and sides of the head. In their actions and appearance
were shadowed the gnatcatcher, kinglet, and chick-
adee, but they were none of these. Bushtits we must
call them — these happening to be the Lloyd. We
were able to make certain of this when we examined
one which was killed and then dropped by a shrike.
Their generic name bears out one of our first thoughts,
for it is Psaltriparus, — hopping chickadee, we may
translate it. They were trustful little creatures and
passed elose to us, trilling and searching the yellow
pollen of the blossoms among the thorns.

Another bird, or flock of birds, observed the same
day, which hesitatingly whispered the beginning of a
little song, giving promise of a more elaborate strain
later in the year, was the Brewer Sparrow, one of the
most streaked of finches, at least on its upper parts.

We know that the wrens and thrashers are closely
related to each other structurally, and in the North we

had often compared the House Wren with the Brown
Thrasher, and wondered if Nature could possibly sup-
ply a missing link between birds so unlike. Now, a
single missing link is a decidedly unscientific thing to
wish for, since, if we could trace them back through
the ages, the intergradations between two dissimilar
creatures would doubtless be very minute, and con-
sequently distributed through many thousands of
individuals and generations. But Nature, out of her
great abundance, often grants our desires when we
least expect it, and here in the mesquite wilderness
our missing’ link appeared to us. Cactus Wren the
books call him, but we might with more aptness term
him Thrasher-wren, following the precedent of Wren-
tit and Quail-dove, for in appearance, if in nothing
else, the bird divides the characteristics of thrasher
and wren. The whitish under parts of these giant
wrens are most conspicuously spotted with black, but
the backs are more in harmony with their surround-
ings. A harsh churr! churr! is their only utterance,
apparently an alarm note, for at times as we passed
along, the mesquite fairly hummed with the sound,
surrounding and accompanying us.

Even a mesquite wilderness has a boundary, and
ours thins out at the edge of the great barranca or
gorge, which slopes downward more than a thousand
feet to the silver thread at the bottom, — the begin-
ning of the Rio Grande de Santiago. It is here a

smmninte QS. Pporneeve

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

stream not more than fifty feet in width and fretted
with the larger boulders of its bed. If we could follow
its course, we should find it gathering to itself springs
and small streams, swelling in volume until it over-
rides the rocks in its way, flowing swiftly and smoothly,
ever descending, until the corn-stubble is left behind,
over-ripe coffee-berries stain its waters, and low-bend-
ing banana leaves are rent and frayed by the touch
of its power. From the uplands through temperate to
tropical scenes it flows, until, after its waters have been
shadowed for many miles by the great primeval forests
of Tepic, it reaches and merges with the Pacific.
Along the brow of the barranca where we had come
out upon it, the mesquite and cactus still held their
own, but were overshadowed by a much larger growth,
— the leafless tree morning-glories, clothed in a blaze
of white convolvulus blossoms. Swarms of January
insects filled the air with their humming and attracted
many birds. It was here that we first met with two
species of hummingbirds with which we were later to
become very familiar. One, the Broad-billed Hum-
mingbird, was wholly iridescent green, save for the
throat and tail, which were blue. The Blue-crowned
Hummingbird was, like the Broad-billed, a rather
large species, and very conspicuous as it swung back
and forth among the blossoms. Its cap of intense blue
contrasted strongly with its pure white under parts
and brownish green back. Although the effort was

OOVIINYS OIN AHL ao VONVUUVE FHL

saydvisojoyd ‘aqrm ay

* THE MESQUITE WILDERNESS fess:

like trying to number so many flashes of sunlight, we
counted, around one tree, at least thirty of this species.
Strange to say, there was little or no fighting among
themselves, but when a big blundering bee or wasp
approached, a half-dozen hummers would rush head-
long at the intruder and hustle it off.

Among these flowering trees, a small stream wound
its way for a long distance before reaching the brink
of the great gorge, and its edges blossomed in beau-
tiful contrast to the arid bare earth a little beyond
on each side; solid banks of ladies’ paint-brush, soft
and white-topped ; lantanas straggling along the rim
of the dust ; and, closer to the water, dahlias and petu-
nias — all wild — were budding in profusion, promis-
ing soon a great glory of flowers.

Among this low growth a small gathering of Mexican
Goldfinches searched for last year’s seeds, which no
winter snows had buried nor ice encased. The sides and
top of the heads and the backs of these little strangers
were solid black, the wings and tail were strikingly
marked with white, and all the rest of the plumage was
golden yellow. Unlike our goldfinch of the Northeast,
this Mexican scorns to assume the dull garb of his
spouse during the winter months, and we could hardly
blame him when we saw the orange, blue, scarlet, and
yellow blossoms among which he spends this season
of rest from nest-building and domestic cares.

The few butterflies surprised us by their resem-

4 TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO %

blance to those with which we were familiar in field
and meadow at home. Archippus was surely here, and
our identical Vanessa antiopa. What a world of differ-
ence one’s personal point of view makes! A Mexican
in New York State would exclaim with wonder that the
mariposas of Mexico had strayed to so distant a land.

The Pileolated Warbler and the Western Gnat-
catcher were two small friends which we first met at
the edge of the barranca. They were cheerful little
bodies, forever busy searching leaves and twigs and
flowers for tiny insects. Perhaps to this unflagging
activity was due the fact that they seemed able to find
a substantial living in all sorts and conditions of places.
The Pileolated Warbler — so like our Wilson Black-
cap, but of a brighter yellow — never became com-
mon, and yet in every list of birds we made, whether
of upland, marsh, cactus desert, barranca, or tropical
jungle, he was sure to have a place. He was not par-
ticular as to his winter home, but found everywhere
enough to keep his black-crowned little head busy
picking and picking, interpolating a sharp chip! now
and then, between mouthfuls.

But his co-sojourner, the Western Gnatcatcher, four
inches or so of bluish gray and white energy, was
many times more numerous, and, if possible, even more
cosmopolitan. The characteristic tyang! tyang! ysss!
which they first twanged for us in the mesquite, found
an echo wherever we rode or camped, from tableland

= THE MESQUITE WILDERNESS

to ocean. The tail was the most prominent feature
of this little personality, black, bordered with white,
very long in proportion to its body, and forever flirted
from side to side. The gnatcatchers stood between
the hummingbirds and the larger feathered kindred
in the matter of fearlessness, and while never showing
the almost insect-like lack of fear of the chuparosas,
yet they were often willing to trust themselves within
two or three feet of our tents and persons.

We found numbers of last year’s nests of the
Sinaloa Wren, the owners of which were about, but
very wary and shy. The nests were well-made struc-
tures of twigs and fine grass, globular in shape, with a
small round opening in one side. They were conspicu-
ous, but safely lodged among the impenetrable thorny
acacias. Although these nests were so elaborately
roofed over, the wasps’ nests which we found were
entirely open, often consisting solely of a single layer
of comb built out horizontally from a twig. One such
comb had been constructed within six inches of the
entrance to the nest of a wren.

A tiny bit of broken shell matted into the bottom
of one of these nests was the only zodlogical find
which marked our winter’s trip.

It was at the very edge of this little nameless
stream that we came upon a strange sight — a drowned
Burrowing Owl at the mouth of its tunnel. What per-
version of instinct or faulty experience ever led it to

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

scratch out its burrow so close to the water, and espe-
cially on the lower side? Perhaps while still at work
the rush of water through the walls overwhelmed the
little tunneller, certainly but a few minutes before we
discovered it, asits body was still warm, and no vulture
had yet spied it. Strange coincidence of two unusual
tragedies to befall creatures of the wild —a Lincoln

NESTS OF WASPS AND SINALOA WREN

THE MESQUITE WILDERNESS

Sparrow not ten feet away lay ruffled and torn in the
centre of a tiny thorn weed, where it had in some way
become entangled, and its succeeding struggles only
bound it the tighter. The vanguard of the million ants
which soon would overrun the little ball of bedraggled
feathers was already on the scene with antenne playing
eagerly, while a few couriers were speeding nestward
at topmost speed to spread the news.

As we approached the little gorge which the falling
stream had carved for itself down the side of the great
barranca, several Wilson Snipe sprang up, with a harsh
note, from the dense undergrowth of watercress, and
zigzagged out of sight. They had been feeding on the
small snails and worms in the brook-bed. If their fare
was as toothsome and tender as we found the cress,
their hesitation in taking to wing was not without
reason. The water-loving plants were here as large as
lettuce and yet most delicate.

It was late afternoon as we seated ourselves on the
brow of the great chasm and watched the shadow creep
slowly up toward us, first darkening the semi-tropical
undergrowth near the bottom. Slowly but surely it
came, dulling the boulders and flowing like a phan-
tom tide of darkness along the ancient lines of beaches
which for age upon age have watched the silver stream
at the bottom cutting its way ever deeper, leaving
their wave-worn nakedness ever farther upward.

Suddenly over our heads and on each side poured

¢ 103 >

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

a living stream of birds, — Mourning Doves, — perhaps
already restless with the first hints of the drawing
northward, or this might have been their regular even-
ing gathering. They came by dozens and scores from
far and near in the mesquite, stopping a moment to
dip their bills, dove-fashion, deep in the clear waters
of the brook, and drinking long and thirstily, then
hurling themselves over the barranca wall to some
roosting-place, far below the surface of the tableland.

And now as the sun’s disk silhouettes the upraised
arms of an organ cactus on the opposite summit, scat-
tered squads of another army of birds appear and focus
to their nightly rendezvous — the White-necked Ravens
of the whole world seem to be passing, so great are
their numbers. As far as the eye can see, each side of
the canyon gives up its complement of black forms ;
one straggling ahead uttering now and then a deep,
hoarse-voiced croak. From all the neighbouring coun-
try they pour in, passing low before us, one and all
disappearing in the black depths of a narrow, boul-
der-framed gorge. A raven comes circling down from
above and instantly draws our eye to what we have
not noticed before, a vast black cloud of the birds soar-
ing above the barranca with all the grace of flight of
vultures. The cloud descends, draws in upon itself,
and, becoming funnel-shaped, sifts slowly through the
twilight into the gorge where the great brotherhood
of ravens is united and at rest.

When the first whispers of the night-sounds rise
from the heart of the barranca there is nothing to hint
of the thousands of sleeping feathered forms which
have intrusted themselves to the shelter of the mighty
depths of Mother Earth.

THE MESQUITE WILDERNESS

CHAPTER VI

THE MARSHES OF CHAPALA

$ UR visit to the oasis of Agua Azul was
% ‘

one of many delights, but when the mar-
vel of the bird-life of Lake Chapala and

its marshes revealed itself to us, the feel-

ings we experienced cannot be put into words; such
one feels at a first glance through a great telescope, or
perhaps when one gazes in wonder upon the distant
earth from a balloon. At these times, one is for an
instant outside of his petty personality and a part of,
a realizer of, the cosmos. Here on these waters and
marshes we saw, not individuals or flocks, but a world
of birds! Never before had a realization of the untold
solid bulk in numbers of the birds of our continent
been impressed so vividly upon us. And the marvel of
it all was the more impressive because of its unexpect-
edness.

A hot, breathless day found our little cavalcade
passing the picturesque old cathedral of La Barca, our
horses’ hoofs stirring up a cloud of the omnipresent
adobe dust. A New England housewife who spends
her life in banishing dust from her home could exist
in the houses of Mexicans only in a state of insanity.

106 %&

THE MARSHES OF CHAPALA

LA BARCA CATHEDRAL, FROM OUR HOTEL WINDOW

The unfinished adobe walls being nothing but dust in
a slightly hardened state, the least touch inside or out
removes a film of the earth powder.

We were surprised to see numerous Barn and White-
bellied Swallows about the streets, and our first thought
was, when will these old friends of ours start on their
northward journey ? A natural inquiry, but one which
we occasionally discovered was wholly unwarranted.
For instance, I watched a Barn Swallow swoop across
our path, and idly wondered where the summer would
find him. I was answered, albeit rather taken aback,

¢ 107 3

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

by observing that his migration, at least, was ended
about five feet farther to the north, where he alighted
on a ledge of an adobe building and busied himself

Scott, photographer

NATIVE SAIL-BOAT ON LAKE CHAPALA

with amass of straws, feathers, and mud, — the founda-
tion of his nest !

It is hard to realize that this country, so distant, so
strange, shares a bird so typical of our Northern fields
as the Barn Swallow. When we find the birds at home
among the adobe buildings, something is changed in
our feeling toward these little feathered creatures, —
they seem less like personal friends; we realize that,
after all, the familiar nest in the hay-loft may be

= THE MARSHES OF CHAPALA 3

duplicated in the streets of some tropical city. We
crossed a stream by a rickety wooden bridge, and
learned that its waters were the same as those flow-
ing at the bottom of the barranca, crossing the mes-
quite wilderness. Here we were near the source of the
Rio Santiago, where it flows from Lake Chapala. At
one side was moored the little stern-wheeler which
every other day carries a few passengers down to the
lake and through its entire length of fifty miles to the
several hotels at the western end.

Along the muddy shallows of the lake can be found
numbers of quaint relics of a by-gone race of people.
Strange dishes and three-legged bowls, sinkers and
buttons, charms and amulets, objects of unknown use,
and now and then little smiling idols of stone, whose
cheerful expression, perhaps, gave hope to earnest
worshippers hundreds of years before the first Span-
ish priest placed foot upon the shores of the New
World.

One should spend a month upon the waters of the
little river and the mighty lake, learning the secrets
of the wild life. What things the giant catfish could
reveal, feeling their way among the reed and lily
stems! At the great marsh, where the stream flows
from the lake, many ebony rattlesnakes lived a semi-
aquatic life, slipping, when disturbed, from the damp
mounds, and undulating through the black water, like
the moccasins in a Florida cypress swamp.

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO és"

From their sinewy folds of death to the beauty and
grace of a snow-white egret is, indeed, an extreme ;
but here snake and bird lived in close association, —
finding in the same swamp rest, shelter, and food.
We in the North have neglected the egrets until
well-nigh the last survivor has been murdered ; but
here in this wild place, where, outside of the towns,
aman’s best law and safeguard is in his holster, these
birds have already found champions. Short tolerance
had the first plume-hunter—an American — who
began his nefarious work in the Chapala marshes. The
rough but beauty-loving caballeros who owned the
haciendas surrounding the lake talked it over, formed
— to all intents and purposes — an Audubon Society,
ran the millinery agent off, and forbade the shooting
of these birds. There was no fine or imprisonment for
shooting egrets, — only a widespread verbal “ revolver
law,” more significant and potent than many of our
inscribed legislative enactments.

Loons and grebes delighted in the swampy end of
the lake — the former shrieking and diving in the
joyous abandon of their wild, unhunted lives. The
great Western Grebe was especially interesting, — an-
other species which must fight for very existence
in its Northern haunts, its silky breast having found
fatal favour in the eyes of milliners.

Hundreds of White Pelicans are said to make their
winter home here, breeding far to the northward ; but

€ 110 3

ODVIINYS O14 AHL UAAO VIVAVHO UVAN AUYHA GNV LAVU DVOT-WIVd

qoydvs30}0yd ‘309g

THE MARSHES OF CHAPALA

a distant glimpse of a few of the great birds is all that
may be hoped for in a flying visit.

To-day our horses were headed for the flooded
marshes east of the lake, and, leaving the stream with
its green borders, we rode on through the chaparral
thickets, Brown Towhees and Curve-billed Thrashers
springing up at every step. Beyond a distant line of
willows, our guide promised us “ muchos pajaros de
agua,’ but there was no hint of changing conditions
until we left La Barca far behind.

Few hunters thought of looking for sport elsewhere
than on the waters of the lake itself, and so we were
not surprised to find the birds tame and unconcerned at
our presence. Little streams appeared, with coots and
handsome little Scaup Ducks floating on their quiet
surface, and sandpipers teetering along the muddy
banks. At last we leaped two ditches, the guide lead-
ing the way through an opening in the willow tangle,
and we found ourselves at the edge of the marshes,
a vast plain, half dry, half flooded, broken here and
there by patches of tall reeds, a great land expanse
stretching mile upon mile to the lake toward the south-
west and to the barren mountains rising hazy and blue
in the east.

At another time and place we have seen thousands
of pelicans close together on a tiny islet ; again, ducks
have surrounded us in such masses that we seemed
floating in a sea of birds; but all our remembrances

¢ 113 >

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO tamu

paled before the avifauna of the Chapala marshes.
Migration had already begun, and we were told that
vast numbers of Pintails and Widgeons had left for
the North, but untold thousands of birds were before
us. As far as the eye could see, living feathered forms
were scattered irregularly or massed in dense flocks.
Our guide could not understand why we did not wish
to shoot, but only to look, and look again, wishing
we could draw out the seconds to minutes, the min-
utes to hours, in which to feast our eyes upon the
wonderfully beautiful sight. Leaning low down on
our horses’ necks and flattening ourselves as close to
the animals’ sides as possible, we advanced at a slow
walk, now and then allowing them to take a mouth-
ful of grass. In this way we were able to approach
closely, even among the flocks, without alarming the
birds.

The air was filled with a multitude of sweet notes, —
half strange, half familiar, — and the sight of scores
of brilliant yellow breasts, crescent marked, turned
toward us, told us that it was a hint of well-known
Meadowlark music which puzzled our memory. But
this melody was very unlike the sharp, steel tones
which ring so true across the frost-gemmed fields of
our Northland in early spring. The larks looked very
little different from our Northern birds; their backs
perhaps darker and their breasts of a warmer, more
orange yellow. This genial, tropical air has thawed

THE MARSHES OF CHAPALA

their voices and softened their tones, and the sweetest
of choruses came from the throats of these Mexican
Meadowlarks. We passed hundreds upon hundreds of
blackbirds, evenly divided between golden-headed

MEXICAN FISHERMAN

beauties and others whose trim ebony forms were
richly marked with scarlet and white shoulders — the
Bicoloured Blackbirds. Their clucks were continu-
ous, as they walked and hopped about, searching and

commode LYS Sommamn

- TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

finding. The half-sodden meadows must indeed have
been a limitless storehouse for insects and seeds,
since they afforded food for so great a number of
birds.

So absorbed was I in watching the various species,
that I forgot the exigencies of my unusual position
on the horse and, losimg my hold, I dropped ignomin-
iously into a puddle. A roar of wings sounded in
my ears as I gained my feet, and a swift look around
showed a myriad of forms in hurried flight — all
blackbirds however ; not a Meadowlark, had flown, but
like magic, at the first suspicion of danger, every yel-
low breast had disappeared. The glass revealed skulk-
ing gray and mottled forms stalking stealthily among
the reeds, but the naked eye refused to distinguish
them from the vegetation. No glint of yellow betrayed
them ; in the flash of an eye a hundred brilliant-hued,
vocal creatures within a few square yards of us had
turned about and — vanished, many times safer than
the fleeing blackbirds, a shot among which would have
slain half a hundred. But from us all were safe, and
after I resumed my Mexican stalking position and rode
on, the alarm ceased almost immediately. The flocks
of Yellowheads and Red-wings settled many ranks
deep among the reeds, and one by one, like the stars
in early evening, the breasts of the reassured larks
flashed out, and again their melody rang sweet and

full as before.

& THE MARSHES OF CHAPALA %&

Three times a beautiful hawk, with under parts
and tail of white, swung out over us from the willow
which we had left, uttering low, wheedling cries and
peering down at us, treading the air overhead with
vibrating wings. A narrow bar of black stretched
across the wide-spread tail-feathers, and we knew that
we had seen the Sennett White-tailed Hawk. Oddly
enough, the birds in the marshes, large and small,
showed absolutely no fear, paying not the slightest
attention to the presence or to the cries of the bird of
prey.

We now came to occasional swampy places with
small patches of open water surrounded by higher
ground. Blackbirds, and Cowbirds with red eyes,
chased grasshoppers and other insects. When an
occasional hopper of unusually large size sprang up,
a fluttering mass of feathers, scarlet, white, golden, and
black would set upon him. But often a low-browed
Caracara galloped up, scattering the lesser birds and
appropriating the remains of the insect for himself. It
was amusing to see how these curious birds seized
their small prey in the talons of one foot and lifted it
toward their beak, nibbling at it from between their
toes, like a cockatoo with a piece of bread.

All these scenes were noted within a few minutes,
and then our attention was wholly absorbed by the
wading and water-birds. We rode acre after acre with
Killdeer and one or two unnamable species of plover

é 117 >

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

calling and dabbling for food in the moist places close
to our horses’ feet. Greater Yellow-legs and their
miniature copies — the Lesser — waded in the flooded
areas. The beauties of all the long-legged waders —
the Black-necked Stilts — were here in great numbers.

In one small swamp meadow I counted more than
eighty, and in all directions their striking black and
white forms were visible, raised above the level of
the reeds. With all their great length of legs they
were graceful walkers, their movements having an
easy swing which was most pleasing. From their little
round heads with the long, slender, needle-like bills,
the bright jet-black eyes kept sharp watch upon us,
but they showed no fear unless we approached within
a few yards, when they glided evenly but quickly to
one side.

The Long-billed Curlews were more wary, and their
complaining cries as they took to wing caused the
Great Blue Herons and the Reddish Egrets to strain
thew necks upward suspiciously. These birds were
conspicuous a long way off; one could easily count
half a hundred herons within a hundred yards of our
horses, but not so the ducks. A few dozen yards away
there would be visible an indistinct, moving mass of
many bobbing, mottled forms. As we approached we
distinguished coots, white of bill and heavy-footed ;
Mallard Ducks, with their iridescent green heads and
white necklaces; Gadwalls, with beautiful marbled

€ 118 }

4¢ THE MARSHES OF CHAPALA 3

breasts, glistening as the drops of water rolled from
them ; while Scaup, Shovellers, Pintails, Blue-winged
and Cinnamon Teal were everywhere. When we actu-
ally rode into a pool full of these birds, they scrambled
or splattered a few yards away into the next swampy
place.

Then the wonder of the White-faced Glossy Ibis!
Not one flock of fifty, nor two, nor five, but dozens ;
now searching every leaf and reed along a solid front
of birds ten yards wide, now springing into the air
and curving unexpectedly back to the ground again.
They alone would have made the marshes a place of
birds.

Surprises kept drawing us on and on, although the
shadows of the horses darkened the ground many
lengths ahead. Four Canvas-back Ducks sprang out
of a ditch overhung with turf, and hummed through
the air like bullets; two tiny grebes left their wake on
the water for fifty feet before they could acquire im-
petus enough to rise. But we were told that the best
vista of all was still ahead, so, sitting upright, we put
our horses at a gallop, sending up ibises, ducks, bit-
terns, stilts, and herons, as the bow of a ship throws
the spray ahead of her.

The guide pulled up suddenly and pointed ahead,
and we saw a misty, dun-coloured cloud slowly disen-
tangling itself from the marsh. The glass showed
untold numbers of White-fronted Geese drifting slowly

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 2

off toward the lake. To the left were what appeared
like great patches of white sand or snow, and we
galloped our horses toward these. Soon the patches
enlarged, changed their relative positions, and began
to ascend, and we realized that we were looking at enor-
mous flocks of Snow Geese taking to wing, — one of
the most beautiful sights in the world of birds. Reluc-
tantly we turned backward by a new route —a short
cut to the town.

But Chapala honours us with a final farewell. The
sun is sinking in a cloudless sky, a wind rises from
somewhere, ruffles the face of the pools and brings the
scent of the marsh blooms to us. A small flock of
White-fronted Geese passes rapidly overhead, not very
high up, when all at once there floats into view cloud
after cloud of purest white, stained on one edge by
the gold of the setting sun. We dismount and look
up until our bodies ache, and still they come, silently
driving into the darkening north. The great impera-
tive call of the year has sounded; the drawing which
brooks no refusal.

Our letters from the North tell of snow and blizzards
—the most terrible winter for many years. No hint
of spring has yet been felt there, while here in the
tropics no frost or snow has come through the winter,
food is abundant, hunters few; yet a summons has
pulsed through the finer arteries of Nature, intangible
to us, omnipotent to the birds. Until dark, and no

€ 120 3

THE MARSHES OF CHAPALA ;

one can tell how long after, the Snow Geese of Labra-
dor, of Hudson Bay, of Greenland, of Alaska, perhaps

of lands still unknown, speed northward.

WHITE-FRONTED AND SNOW GEESE, CAPTIVE WILD BIRDS

CHAPTER VII
CAMPING IN A BARRANCA

VERY excursion or ride we took through

mesquite or desert, or to the wonderful

= marshes, revealed new mysteries ; we had
Cis, ’

PIT, hardly entered the threshold of Nature’s
wonder-house, but each evening the setting sun called
to us as strongly as ever it did to Magellan or Cortez,
and before long the summons became imperative.
Then, discarding all luxuries, we girded on khaki and

corduroy, cartridge-belt and revolver, and slinging
our cameras over our shoulders, we boarded the train
which would carry us to the end of civilization. The
six hours’ run from Guadalajara to Tuxpan, on the
Mexican Central Railroad, passed quickly, for the coun-
try was pleasantly diversified. Stretches of alkali desert
give place to green oases dotted with *dobe houses ;
sun-baked maize-fields and tangles of cactus alternate
with plantations green and restful to the eye. Such the
foreground, always level, while at a distance, in all direc-
tions, low mountains rise in graceful lines, with softly
curving, ancient lava-flows showing gray and barren.
Wherever a marsh appeared, dark and green, there,
as usual, feathered hosts were gathered. My journal

& 122 >

shows notes of species again and again repeated, the
impression which each new assemblage made being so
vivid and unexpected. The train once passed slowly
over a low, rough bridge thrown across a marsh, and
in an adjoining pool we noted the following birds, most
of the species represented by scores of individuals, the
surface of the water and the shore literally covered
with them ; Coots, Mexican Cormorants, Lesser Scaup
and Mallard Ducks, Shovellers and Blue-winged Teal,
two species of Grebes, Gallinules, Jacanas, Green Her-
ons, Great Blue Herons, Black-necked Stilts, Glossy
Ibises, and American Egrets! Fifteen splendid species
of water and wading-birds feeding together in apparent
harmony, with a fearlessness of man which it would be
hard to find within the boundaries of our own Republic.

At last in the far distance there loomed a tall jagged
peak flecked with snow, and we were told that we were
looking at the snow mountain of mighty Colima, at
present hiding her sister of fire. As we backed swiftly
down into the terminal station at Tuxpan, the con-
ductor chanced to see a pile of stones which some play-
ful (?) Mexican had piled upon the track, and the
air-brakes stopped us just in the nick of time. Such
pranks (!) are not uncommon, it is said.

Tuxpan will remain long in our memories of pleasant
places in Mexico. Our hostesses of the Hotel Central
were kindness itself, perhaps because /a Senorita
Americana seemed to them the personification of femi-

¢ 123 »

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

nine delicacy. “ What!” they exclaimed. “ La Sejior-
ita 1s gomg on into the wild barrancas? Dios
mio! Impossible! Think of the hard trail, the fierce
tigres, the bandits! Only yesterday a traveller and his
mozo were held up and robbed of six hundred pesos !”
And so on, but to no purpose. La Sefvorita was more
resolved than ever, having come thus far, to yield to
the fascination of the voleano, which drew like a lode-
stone ; and indeed we knew the dangers were exagger-
ated by these good people — these women who live but
the hundredth part of the life of an American gul.

The hotel was clean and neat, the patio shaded by
masses of oranges and lemons, while tame deer, parrots,
burros, dogs, cats, and doves occasionally wandered
past our door, or stopped to regard us with wondering
eyes.

We sent for a vaquero guide and arranged for horses
and a pack-train. “ Hsta muy bien, Senorita,’ was
his commendation when he learned that she desired
a man’s saddle. The Mexican women always use a
most cumbrous kind of side-saddle, carrying two sad-
dles — one facing left and one right, that they may,
when cramped, change their positions ;— most uncom-
fortable for the oceupant and dangerous and painful for
the animal on these steep and rocky trails. Seforita
gained the guide’s devotion and complete admiration
when he, idly suggesting a comparison of revolvers,
saw that her weapon, far from being a toy, was better

wee 1Q4 Bowen

PLAZA AT TUXPAN

Scott, photographer

#; CAMPING IN A BARRANCA

a

than his own. Two mules were to be loaded with our
tents, cots, provisions, and other baggage, and we pre-
pared to start at daybreak for the wildest barranca on
the edge of the tableland. Our plan was to camp there
for a time, then to move to a lower altitude, and at
last to pitch our tents in the tropical lowlands beyond
the city of Colima. Thus we need never be out of
sight of the ever more wonderful volcano, and yet, by
encircling it with a line of camps, we might see some
of the wild Mexican life under many conditions and
at varying altitudes.

At sunset, from an ancient well-curb in the centre
of the plaza, we watched the smoke curling slowly
upward from the fire mountain, silhouetted against the
splendour of the western sky. Our hostesses passed
us silently, on their way to the picturesque cathedral ;
they must pray to-night for the soul of a beloved aunt
whom they believed to be stillin Purgatory ; and soon
the bell ceased to toll, and the low tones of an organ
were heard, softened and mellowed by the same hand
of time which had weathered the gray, lichened walls.

During the last hour of light, half-clothed young
boys rushed back and forth, vainly trying to fly a
home-made kite, with no wind to lift it. We asked
one of them what he thought of the smoking moun-
tain, and his face sobered for a moment as he crossed
himself. “ Dios mio!” came the universal exclamation,
“the priests tell us (and they know), the little diablos

TUXPAN CATHEDRAL

del monte (devils of the mountain) will roar out at us
and carry us down with them if we are not good.”
A moment later and he was helping his band of dusky
muchachos to round up some unruly calves which had
appeared from somewhere.

The cathedral’s bell is soft and sweet; the thought
of the Catholic legends brings the medieval past
into vivid reality; Colima’s snow peak gleams with
the last rays of the sun, long since hidden from us ;
but all this is put out of mind or at least subordi-
nated to indistinctness in our revery, when the taller

ef 128 >

CAMPING IN A BARRANCA

apex of black pines and lava is warmed by a dull
glow, which fitfully rises and falls — the very pulse of
Mother Earth. Here is the mystery of the cosmos ;
our first glimpse of earth’s primeval fires which have

glowed since the first cell came into existence — and

who knows how many ages before? One may read
of strange customs, and at once see them clearly in his
mind’s eye; of grand mountains, and imagine their
appearance and impressiveness ; but of an active vol-
cano—never! The awe, the deep reverence it arouses
is part of one’s deepest nature, beyond words or expres-
sion. It is late that night
before Sevorita and I interrupt our revery.

and many other nights —

The Mexican guide was tardy next morning, — two
hours by our watches, — but according to his notion
only a little, “ahorita,’—a very little, — behind
time. A silver peso bought a large assortment of the
most primitive earthen ol/as, jars and saucers, and
several plaited straw mats, all of which we found in-
valuable later on. When these were tied on above the
packs, we said good-bye to our hostesses ; and our little
cavalcade clattered off through the deserted streets,
past the station, the railroad terminus, and the little
wayside shrine which always marks the completion of
any considerable undertaking in this country.

For mile after mile we rode along a level, dusty trail,
zigzagging through parched mesquite bushes, from
which a short gallop to one side frightened out Curve-

é 129 >

mundé TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 2

billed Thrashers and Mockingbirds and occasionally
a White-rumped Shrike. All three species, when unmo-
lested, flew to the ground and fed greedily on a kind of
black ant which covered the earth in great hordes in
certain sharply defined areas. This seemed an unusual
habit of the shrikes, which are generally strictly arbo-
real. Winding through deep crevices worn through
old lava flows, we came at last to the edge of the Bar-
ranca Atenquiqut (Aténké'ké), and the view before us
banished all the disappointment which the barrenness
of the desert behind us had aroused. The deep gorge
at our feet is bright and green, and at the bottom the
dense semi-tropical foliage almost conceals the white-
rippled stream which rushes along. A turn in the
barranca, some little distance to the ght, frames
the volcano squarely between the two walls, and from
the gorge to the edge of the gray, impassable, live
lava, extends a verdant “ Promised Land,” to roam
through which we were as eager as were the horses
for the cool stream below.

This side of the barranca, however, is steep and
rocky, and the way to the bottom is treacherous and
slow. The sure-footed mules felt their way at each
step, and we leaned far back against the rear pommel
of the great saddles, the shoulders of the horses work-
ing laboriously, the animals hanging back in the steep
places. With a final reckless rush we tore down the
last slope, shouting out in English and Spanish with

eestor 26 130 dorms

CAMPING IN A BARRANCA

the joy of the journey’s end, nor did we pull rein until
our steeds were deep in the stream-bed.

There seemed no place to camp, except here almost
on the very line of travel along the trail, or to go
farther on, neither of which things we desired. So we

OUR PACK-TRAIN

drove the pack-animals upstream and, urging our horses
after them, half swam, half waded around the nearest
bend. Here, sheltered from all intrusion, we found a
level piece of good ground where the barranca stream
halts its rapid flow and for a few yards widens out
into a broad, deep pool bordered with sand-bars. The
hitches were loosened and our packs were taken off

€ 131 +

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

the mules. Our guide stampeded his lightened caravan
back to the trail, shouting a long-drawn “Adios” as
he disappeared, and we were left alone.

Our tents were soon pitched, and Ricardo, our clever
little Mexican cook and general aide-de-camp, had the
supper prepared before the short twilight fell. It was
long after our little camp settled to rest that I finished
arranging the thousand and one things which a nat-
uralist needs in a country where birds, insects, and
flowers are as strange to him as if but newly created. I
walked quietly to where the slowly moving water sent
back the clear moonlight from its surface, and sud-
denly the daring of our expedition came fully upon me.
Behind me the tent shone white through the trees, so
wee a mark of human presence deep in the maw of the
wild barranca. A strong enough quake of earth, and
the boulders silhouetted high above against the sky
might loosen and slip from their moorings; a greater
bubbling of water from the mountain springs, and the
stream would blot us out; and yet we have left dangers
as great in the eivilization from which we have fled
for a season; all the risks of train and steamer, of dis-
ease and fire, from which here we were free. But what
of fierce men and animals? As a matter of fact, I was
then far from being a good shot with a revolver, but
at that moment the feeling of the rough little handle
against my hip was infinitely comforting.

A deep groaning — deeper than the lowest bass of

any organ — came to my ear, then changed to a louder
rumble, and then to a muffled booming, and I knew the
voleano was speaking. How far underground it worked
or what forces were contending together, would be
perhaps forever a mystery, but the realization of such
mighty powers at work so near, far from arousing
alarm, seemed to quell all fear, and without another
disturbing thought I picked my way back to the tent.
The sleep which came to us that night was of the qual-
ity of sweetness known only to those whose happiest
days and nights are the ones spent closest to the heart
of wild Nature.

SANDPIPERS AND HAWKS

At daybreak a plunge into the clear, cold stream
refreshed every sense, and the life of the canyon began
another day. For us, its birds and trees were created
yesterday, but the rocks which fringe its summit have
seen them come and go for centuries. We appeared
thus suddenly and fitted into the environment as if
always a part of it, disturbing nothing that we could
avoid, shooting little except for food, and even that
with low-sounding guns whose reports brought no
alarm to the tenants of the barranca. And thus here
as elsewhere we strove to merge as nearly as pos-
sible into our surroundings, and by means of neutral
tinted clothes and quiet watching, to see into the
real lives of the creatures of this Mexican wilderness.

¢@ 133 >

% TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

Most of our hunting was done with cameras and
glasses, and this kind of sport proved fully as exciting
and required infinitely more skill than the simple level-
ling of a gun.

We had not long to wait; the birds came thick and
fast ; the insects whirred by our tent; lizards rustled
among the leaves. Indeed, for a time we hardly took
notice of any details, so disconcerting were the impres-
sions of constantly appearing forms, new and strange.

The sand-bars in front of our camp were seldom
untenanted for more than an hour by one or two
species of birds — both old friends. The first note to
greet us came from one of these sand-spits, A7v//-dee !
Aill-dee! and there a pair of beautiful Killdeer Plov-
ers stood watching us, their belted breasts of black and
white bobbing cheerfully, bringing to mind the mud-
flats of Fundy, the dry uplands of Virginia. Where
indeed do not the notes of this handsome bird pene-
trate? Here from late January on, the Killdeers were
moving restlessly downstream, passing slowly day after
day in pairs or small flocks. At first we thought the
same individuals reappeared each day, but when occa-
sionally our larder ran short and we shot a half-dozen,
the following day Killdeers in equal numbers were
running about. This slow migration, or at least very
regular wandering, is shared by another species — the
Solitary Sandpipers; little waders not wisely named,
at least in this land, for wherever we saw them they

¢ 134 >

CAMPING IN A BARRANCA

appeared as fond of each other’s company as the rest
of their sandpiper relations. These graceful little birds
were forever scurrying along the shallows, probing and
probing for what, they only knew. Their whistling ery
as they alighted.was the signal for the Killdeers to leave.
There was never any open hostility displayed between
the two species, and surely there was food enough for
hundreds, yet the Killdeers flew across the stream or
on, out of sight, when the sandpipers appeared.

A remarkable mystery is woven about the breeding
habits of the Solitary Sandpipers. In the North, during
migrations, it is seldom that these sandpipers cannot
be found when searched for; even during the summer
they have been observed again and again. Yet so
carefully do they conceal their nests and eges, that but
one or two have ever been discovered. Would that
some of our rarer birds had equal skill!

These little waders certainly enjoyed their feasts of
worms and “ bugs,” but they were exposed to many
dangers along the open stream, and they had ever to
keep a sharp lookout skyward for enemies. One day
a small flock of Solitaries, off their guard for a moment,
had a narrow escape. They were feeding quietly near
camp when a Mexican Black Hawk suddenly appeared
upon the scene and instantly swooped upon them. A
more magnificent dash I never saw; a full-rounded
aerial dive from fifty yards away, increasing to light-
ning speed, its focus being the group of unconscious

«¢ 135 3

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

birds. Some instinct warned, and a despairing cry
arose from the flock, as they perceived the black
death almost upon them. The hawk’s cruel talons
were outstretched, half bent to clutch. Every gray
body tumbled off the spit of sand, and disappeared
beneath the surface of the water, while the hawk
checked his descent with a single wing-beat which
splashed the stream and then curved sharply upward
to a dead tree. When the ripples passed, the little
frightened ’pipers were seen speeding downstream,
with heads held low, wings half raised, running along
the bottom. Soon they were lost to view through the
water, and yards below, where the stream shallowed
to rapids, five limp forms burst forth and flew close to
the surface around the turn. We were glad to see the
sandpipers make their escape, such command of ex-
pedient deserving nothing less.

The hawk was joined by its mate, and both flew
to a tree immediately opposite the camp, in the top
of which was a rough nest of sticks. During the day
these birds were away, perhaps hunting, but late in
the afternoon they invariably returned, showing no
fear of us or of our camp-fire. At such times they
flew aimlessly about, or both birds joined in adding
more sticks to their nest, close to which they roosted
at night. This desultory nest-building was continued
throughout our stay, but no eges were laid. Once or
twice the hawks dashed at a pile of conglomerate rock

é 136 >

CAMPING IN A BARRANCA

near the tent and seized a piece of refuse meat which
we had placed there. They were handsome birds, jet
black throughout, save for three white bands on the
tail, at base, centre, and tip, which flashed out when
the feathers were spread in flight. Wherever we found
this hawk in Mexico, it was sure to be near a stream,
and three of their nests which we examined were in
high trees overhanging the water.

Wesoon made the acquaintance of another Mexican
bird of prey, more handsome even than the Black Hawk,
and his appearance was under conditions quite as
sensational as our meeting with the former species.
A snapshot at a large hawk for identification only
stunned the bird, and when it showed signs of recover-
ing, a strong handkerchief was used to bind its feet
firmly together. It was a splendid Mexican Goshawk.
Its tail is like that of the Black species, but the beau-
tiful wavy bars of gray and white which mark its
breast and flanks are characteristic of this bird alone.
Even the upper parts of the plumage show faint
traces of these linings, and the head and eyes are
of noble bearing —an eagle in miniature. When his
faculties returned to him unimpaired, he was quiet
for a while, but not from fear. His spirit was far from
being broken, and, biding his time, he made a well-
directed break for liberty. Away his strong wings
bore him, and he bit fiercely at the white bandage as
he flew.

onnmne 137 Bonne

Then a curious thing happened. A Western Red-
tailed Hawk appeared and, seeing the flash of white,

MEXICAN GOSHAWK

imagined it some unwieldy booty which he might claim
for his own. The war-scream of the Western represent-
ative of our “ Hen-hawk” rang out, and he hurled him-
self upon the Goshawk. Instantly his claws sank deep
into the meshes of the cloth; he became entangled,

€ 138 4

* CAMPING IN A BARRANCA ‘emz

and with clutching talons the two birds fell rapidly to
earth, their frantic wing-beats thrashing vainly one
against the other, impotent to support their ill-balanced
bodies. Down fell the fluttering mass of ruffled feath-
ers square into a thorn-bush, where they lay panting
and fiercely glaring at one another. To complete the
tableau, a third species, a Black Hawk, swooped to-
ward the bush and hovered for a while above the
helpless birds.

The incident was fraught with significance when
we consider that under ordinary circumstances the Red-
tail would never have dared to approach, much less
attack, the smaller but fiercer Goshawk. At other camps
we found the Goshawk a very tame and fearless bird,
and in hunting and general hawk-character the Red-
tail ranks far below him. Yet in this instance the stun-
ning effects of the shot, or the confining bandage,
instantly revealed to the Red-tail’s eye that something
was wrong. Taking immediate advantage of this slight
showing of weakness, the less noble hawk made an
attempt to rob. Thus is the high average of strength
and health maintained among wild birds. Each is
ever ready to oust another from a stronger showing of
power; each holds his position against competitors
only by the exercise of his full faculties, and woe to the
weakling or to the victim of even a slight accident!

The note of the Black Hawk is a long-drawn, dom-
inating scream, coming to the ear down through the

é 139 >

air at times when the bird was almost beyond the range
of vision. The Goshawk’s cry is a succession of clear
tones, peculiarly liquid for the notes of a hawk. The
principal food of the Goshawk in these barrancas was
lizards, which it snatched up with most marvellous
skill. The unfortunate saurian would see its fate com-
ing and flash by so swiftly that to our eyes it passed
as a streak of brown or green. But the hawk’s judg-
ment is exact. The lizard is swift, the hawk is swifter,
and unless a thick tangle is near, into which the rep-
tile can hurl itself, the meeting of the acute angle of
its flight and the bird’s descent is as certain as fate.

BIRDS OF THE DAWN

As I have said, the Black Hawks came about our
camp in the afternoon and were active until late in the
evening. Hours after darkness had closed down, we
heard their screams as they passed overhead. But they
were awake and away long before daylight, and dur-
ing the whole morning small birds seemed more at
their ease, owing to the absence of birds of prey. Al-
though we were at an altitude of about 4000 feet,
tropical nature was by no means absent. After the
chill of nightfall had passed, birds appeared which we
had long looked forward to seeing.

The beautiful little wren-sprites of the barranca
were the first to waken and sing, and we hardly recog-
nized in them the Mexican Canyon Wrens of the house-

€ 140 &

CAMPING IN A BARRANCA

tops of Guadalajara. Here they were in their native
haunts, and the marvellous hymn of sweetness rang
out frequently in the early morning,
the rocky cliffs. We caught the real inspiration of the

reéchoing among

wild joyous strain, which was so
obscured and fitted so ill with
the environment of the dusty
city. It is a silvery dropping
song of eight or ten clear sweet
notes, becoming more plaintive
as they descend, and ending in
several low, ascending trills.
The silvery quality is of mar-
vellous depth and purity, and
although at times the birds

sang with startling loudness

MEXICAN CANYON WREN

from the very ridge-pole of the
tent, there was not a trace of harshness or aught save
a liquid clearness. It seemed the very essence of the
freshness of dawn in the cool bottom of the canyon.
The little singer was not easily detected in the gray
light, but at last his tremulous white throat was seen
high overhead at the entrance of some dripping, mossy
crevice in the rocks, his tiny body and wings of dark
chocolate hue merging into the background.

As the sunlight travelled slowly downward toward
us, the notes flowed more slowly from his throat, until,
with the increasing warmth, only a few sleepy tones

é 141 3

suds, TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Zeus:
were heard —like the last efforts of the dying katy-
dids at the time of the first frost. But the wren him-
self was far from sleepy. The heat had simply thawed
the frozen music from his heart and he now began the
serious work of the day. There were spiders and flies
to be sought among the boulders, and the bird became
a feathered mouse — creeping or running silently and
swiftly over the rocks, now slipping into a crevice,
whence he emerged with a half-frozen insect. A quick
wipe of his bill and he jumped rather than flew to the
next likely-looking place. So all day goes the tiny
bundle of feathered energy, the little eyes seeing every-
thing, the ears ever on the alert, tail erect, reflecting
every emotion. Jo catch a Canyon Wren asleep would
offer itself as a feat worthy of being classed with the
proverbial effort to find a needle in a hay-stack. Of
all the birds of the barrancas these wrens perhaps won
our deepest affection ; so tiny were they, and yet each
morning filling the whole great gorge with their sweet-
ness.

But the wrens were not the only early risers near
our tents. A series of sharp explosions or clicks, as
if from some large insect, or perhaps comparable to an
exploding pack of very small fire-crackers, mystified us,
until a tiny green and white form perched upon a stone
in mid-stream, and we knew the author to be a Little
Green Kingfisher. This was the term which we apphed
to him before learning his Latin name, some thirty let-

€ 142 >

ters long, and his generally accepted but utterly inane
and meaningless common name of Texas Kingfisher.
Why, forsooth, because a few enterprising individuals
of his kind have dared to cross the Rio Grande River
into one of our Southern States, must we call the entire
race Texan, when their natural home is in Mexico and
Central America? ‘“ What ’s in a name?” Verily,
what is xo¢ in one!

The songs of but few birds, when reduced to musical
notation and played upon the piano, can be recognized
until the name of the songster is revealed, and so in the
case of this diminutive kingfisher ; no one would ever
call his utterance a rattle until the little fellow — true
kingfisher from beak to toe —is seen in the act. Then
the resemblance of the clicking to the rattle of our
Belted Kingfisher is so absurdly apparent, and yet such
a parody and travesty in its diminutiveness, that we
cannot help being amused. For a few days we never
saw these little birds without the comparison coming
to mind, but we soon discovered that far from being a
mere caricature of his larger cousin of the North, the
Little Green Kingfisher had an individuality of no small
moment. As soon as he was convinced of our pacific
intentions, he was perfectly fearless, and went about
his business wasting but little thought upon us strange
interlopers. Perfect drones we must have seemed to
him, with nothing better to do than to stare and stare
all day. He was an affectionate bird, and kept close to

€ 143 3

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO :

his mate, who was easily distinguished from him. The
hues of his plumage make him a gem in the sunlight ;
a few inches of glistening, iridescent green, a white
throat and collar, and a broad band of bright chestnut
across his breast. The female lacks this ruddy tint, but
in its place has two bars of beautiful green spots. The
kingfisher’s wings are his chief glory, green like his
back, and when they are spread in flight, a hundred
round spots of white flash out, as if his last dive had
strewn his wings with a myriad flecks of foam. His
habits differ considerably from those of our familiar
Belted Kingfisher, as when on the lookout for fish,
instead of selecting an overhanging branch, he usually
prefers a boulder in mid-stream, or a flat sand-bar. In
the eddies behind such places small fishes collected in
numbers, and the little martin pescador, as the Mexi-
cans call him, seldom went hungry.

A pair alighted one day on a sand-bar among the
sandpipers, waddled awkwardly to the edge, and peered
intently into the water, their absurd tails perpetually
jerking up and down. Suddenly, perceiving the object
of his desire, one of them described a half-circle in the
air and dropped with unerring aim upon a fish or polly-
wog. The sandpipers ceased their probing for a mo-
ment to consider the strange manceuvres of this little
companion of theirs. As I shall mention later, when
water was scarce this sturdy little fellow was in no wise
discomfited.

of 144 >

CAMPING IN A BARRANCA ‘fm:

The devoted pair, whose fishing-ground was about
our pool, guarded thew preserve carefully, and when
a third individual appeared he was hustled unceremo-
niously off, and hunted out of sight. A glimpse of an
episode in the life of this pair of tiny kingfishers was
given to me early one morning, when I was lazily
swimming across the pool. A great clicking and dart-
ing about of these birds drew my attention to them,
and I perceived that an unwelcome third kingfisher
had appeared, a female, judging from her green-banded
breast. This was no ordinary intruder, and the most
vicious attacks upon her by the other female failed
to drive her away. I had noticed before that when
the intruder chanced to be a male bird, the male of the
mated pair figured most prominently in the process of
eviction.

Now the females flew at each other, clinched and
fell to the sand, striking savagely with their long,
pointed beaks. Having gained a firm foothold, I was
able to watch every detail in this tragic scene. From
the very first attack, the stranger seemed to have the
best of it, and soon her superiority in strength was
very apparent. Our little mated bird grew weaker
until she appeared hardly able to stand upright. I
began advancing through the water, intending to take
a hand in vanquishing this stranger Amazon, when
the male, who had been hovering and clicking excitedly
near by, dashed to the unequal combatants and took

¢ TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO #

a tardy part. According to the “inexorable law” of
Nature (or more correctly that of some scientists), the
male kingfisher should accept the stronger bird and
relinquish his vanquished mate. But deep in these
barrancas may not a bird do as he chooses? Before
I could interfere, he had driven the strange female
into the air. Around and round they went, close to the
surface of the water, their white-spotted wings flashing
by, angry clicks filling the air. At last they disap-
peared, and not for three or four minutes did the val-
iant little bird return. His mate was unharmed, and
together they flew away, and in two days they began
a nest in a bank of clay some distance upstream.

The method of starting this tunnel was peculiar.
The birds took turns in flying at the bank, and, bal-
ancing on fluttering wings, they made dart after dart
at its surface, each stroke flicking off a small chip of
clay from one particular spot. Next day, the hole had
been bored to a depth of several inches, so that a firm
foothold was afforded, and the laborious fluttering was
no longer necessary. This same pair of kingfishers
spent some of their nights in another hole — perhaps
an old nest — near camp.

A third bird-voice rang out in the early mornings,
unmusical and most penetrating — the call-note of the
Elegant Woodpecker. Except for a circle of black
feathers about the eyes, and the golden instead of red
hue of the nape of the neck, he would readily pass for

a Red-bellied Woodpecker, the common bird of our
South Atlantic States. These birds remain paired all
through the winter, and are forever calling to each other,

ELEGANT WOODPECKER

their loud cries ringing out sharp above all other sounds.
This habit, together with their conspicuous black and
white backs and scarlet caps, makes them prominent
figures in the avifauna of this part of Mexico. They

woman 147 Spoverone

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

had no fear of hawks, but would attack a Black Hawk
with as little hesitation as if he were a vulture. Not
once did the Elegant Woodpecker favour us with tattoo
on resonant wood. Does he mate for life and thus
make less use of the methods of invitation and challenge
so common among all his cousins ?

We were surprised at the number of trees which had
lost their leaves, fully one third presenting as bare an
appearance as the deciduous trees at this time of year
at home. One compensation was the flowering of many
of these. Before a leaf-bud has unfolded, magnolia-
like, a hundred beautiful blossoms, burst forth every
day, the first ones withering and falling, but new ones
giving the trees a continuous appearance of freshness.
The most common of these was the Cotton Tree (Bom-
bax palmeri), which the Mexicans call clavillina, a
tree of good size, whose oblong flower-buds burst
open, revealing a radiating tassel of long silky-white
stamens, five or six inches in length. The petals then
curve back out of sight, giving the tree the appear-
ance of a great mass of delicate, silky floss. These
trees love to grow on the very brink of the barrancas,
their branches reaching far out over the sheer cliffs.
The bark peels off in long, fluttering, red streamers,
thin and transparent, and the rustling of these in the
slightest breath of air is a very characteristic sound
of the country.

The flowers were fragrant and attracted hosts of

omnes [AQ Borerrnen

4; CAMPING IN A BARRANCA ;

Stent
gt

small insects; these in turn drew the birds, so that the
fringe of clavillinas above the camp was a favourite
place for many species. As early as six o’clock the
blossoms of these trees, because of their lofty position,
flashed back the first rays of the rising sun, while we
below were in shadow until two hours later. A Louis-
iana or Western Tanager used to perch high up among
the flowers each morning, and pour forth a harsh, un-
musical trill with as earnest a manner as if he thought
the world was listening, charmed by the grating sounds.
What a contrast to the musician of an hour before, —
the Canyon Wren, — garbed in mottled hues of dark
brown, singing its incomparable strain, is this tanager,
brilliantly feathered in red, yellow, and black, but utter-
ing jarring discords. The law of compensation is indeed
a just one.

Orioles soon made their appearance, a flock of them,
somewhat like our Baltimores, but larger and with jet
black wings and tail—the Wagler Oriole. Their gaudy
costume of orange and black is not acquired until the
third year, and during the first two seasons, the imma-
ture birds have to be satisfied with more sombre tints
of light yellow and green. These birds, too, have re-
nounced song for their coat of many colours, and can
only rattle harshly. Their alarm-note is hard and metal-
lic, like that of a nuthatch.

The tanagers and orioles clamber over and around
the stamen-blossoms, sometimes hanging by their feet

MEXICO

FORK-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD

as a chickadee clings to a twig. The white blossoms,
the birds, — red, orange, black, and yellow, — and the
blue sky beyond, formed a most beautiful sight, which,
from our darkened point of view below, showed to the
best advantage.

One more bird must be added to the list of those
which appeared more especially in the early morning
— the Fork-tailed or Golden-backed Hummingbirds.
The acacias growing thickly about our camp were
covered with masses of sweet-scented pea-blossoms, and
here scores of these hummingbirds delighted to find
their food, shooting back and forth or perching for
an instant to arrange some microscopic plume. This

particular species of chuparosa is all of an iridescent
green, save the head, which is capped with shimmering
gold. Occasionally two would meet, hum and poise
before each other for a fraction of time, their deeply
forked tails scissoring open and shut, then launch them-
selves fiercely at each other and fight out their little
quarrel within a foot of us as we sat at breakfast.

A GOSHAWK NEAR CAMP

CHAPTER VIII

NATURE NEAR CAMP

thinning out of the small acacias and
other bushes in the immediate neighbour-
hood of the tents, and this bare patch of

ground, far from being barren of interest, provided
entertainment for hours at a time. The clearing of the
ground at once attracted the leaf-cutting ants, which
swarmed to the open place in myriads. We were thor-
oughly alarmed at first, visions of being compelled to
move our outfit out to the water-encircled sand-bars
being far from pleasing. But as it proved, the ants
gave us not a moment of discomfort, for, by a little
judicious placing of orange-peels and biscuit-crumbs
in a sharply defined space, we were able to convey the
idea to these hordes of insects that the daily falling of
“manna” was restricted to that particular spot.

These ants were most interesting little creatures.
The entrances to their homes were many yards away,
and yet all day long, two unbroken lines of ants con-
nected these holes with the new food supply; one line
hurrying empty-jawed to the scene of activity, while
those in the other file were returning heavily laden

NATURE NEAR CAMP

with orange-peel or some bit of food. During the first
few days the majority of the ants transported roughly
circular pieces of leaves, but news soon spread of the
more precious treasures, and only a day or two was
needed for a well-marked path to be worn in the direc-
tion of each nest. There were two very distinct classes
or “persons”? among’ the ants, each hard and thorny-
armoured. The workers, or those which carried the
burdens, were small, the big-jawed soldiers being much
larger. The latter loafed along, one to every twenty or
so of the smaller kind, doing nothing in particular ex-
cept occasionally brandishing their formidable mand-
ibles. In one place an ant-trail led over an arching
branch which lay upon the ground. The removal of
this caused the greatest consternation. Burdens were
dropped, soldiers collected rapidly at the broken ends
of the trail and advanced slowly, waving their pincer-
like weapons as they went. In three minutes the fore-
most members of each division met, twiddled antenne,
and the line of travel was once more open. The work-
ers hastened back, searched for their discarded loads,
and hurried along as before. I noticed that for ten or
fifteen minutes the soldiers were more numerous at the
point of the accident than elsewhere.

Some of the diminutive workers carried compar-
atively immense burdens, a piece of orange-pith three
or four times as large as the entire body. Occasion-
ally one would come along staggering under a tall,

$153 %

wide-topped scrap of blue or white paper, taken from
some food wrapping, and looking absurdly like a little
banner or standard.

These prickly-skinned ants were seldom eaten by
birds, but, as the heat increased toward midday, when
flies and wasps appeared, birds quickly gathered. The
tiny Western Gnatcatchers were ever twanging their
little vocal cords, and they were perhaps the most
numerous small birds hereabouts, but up on the higher
ground along the barranca top, Audubon Warblers
excelled in numbers. Associating with the gnatcatchers,
though not so numerous, were Yellow-bellied Vireos —
a new acquaintance. They have the habits of fly-
catching warblers rather than of vireos, and they were
constantly about the camp, snapping up tiny flies and
gnats, and uttering their sharp chit! chit! The colour-
ing of these birds is rather characterless, being yellow-
ish green above and greenish yellow below, but they
are bright, vivacious little creatures.

Occasionally in the mornings, numbers of tiny gray-
ish warblers came slowly down the walls of the bar-
ranca, feeding as they descended, taking short flights,
and keeping close to the ground among the dense
underbrush. These birds lingered at the camp for a
time, and then, with soft, low chirps, all passed on to
the water, where they alighted on the sand and drank.
Then, as if at some silent signal, all flew up and re-
turned quickly, still keeping close to the ground, zig-

be bw
of 154 3

NATURE NEAR CAMP

zageing their way upward ina long line, like tiny gray
mice. They remind one somewhat of Nashville Warb-
lers, and indeed they area closely related species — the
Virginia or Rocky Mountain Warbler. The second
common name indicates its summer home, and here in
the mountains of Mexico, it is said to be near its south-
ern limit of migration. Yet it was a very common
bird. There was much variation in the amount of
yellow on the under parts, some birds showing much
more than others.

In this Barranca Atenquiqui we soon made the ac-
quaintance of the Derby Flycatcher — one of the most
characteristic and at the same time one of the noisiest
birds of Mexico, screaming and calling all through the
day. It was winter, and insects, while fairly abundant,
were apparently too scarce to provide the flycatchers
with their usual diet, and we found them feeding freely
on berries and_ seeds.
These Derbies added
much to the colour and
life of the barranca, often
flying past on their way
up or down stream. They
are large and _ power-
ful birds, more than ten
inches in length and strik-
ingly marked. The throat
is white, while the rest of DERBY FLYCATCHER

anmnnee 155. Bornnnn

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

the under parts is bright sulphur yellow; the back
is brownish, and the large head is marked with black
and white, with a crown of bright yellow and orange.
At this place we had no opportunity of studying them
at close range, but I mention the bird because of a
peculiar habit which one individual displayed, namely,
the art of fishing. This particular Derby was the only
one of its species which frequented our camp, and here
the solitary bird spent much of each morning, unmo-
lested by the kingfishers, and all but equalling them
in their own trade. Like the kingfishers, the Derby
perched upon a rock and watched the eddies, and then
dived with all his might two or three times in succes-
sion, each time securing a small fish, or sometimes a
tadpole. It seemed impossible for him to immerse him-
self more than three consecutive times, for his plumage
became water-soaked, and he then flew heavily to a
sun-lit branch to spread himself to the sun. After dry-
ing he was at it again. It would be interesting to know
if, when a bird of such unusual habits mates and raises
a brood of young, this knowledge would in any way
be imparted to its offspring.

Everywhere in the cliffs above us were caves, some
large, and many small, and toward evening, or in fact
at any time, by careful watching, the tenants of these
rocky shelters might be detected. Immediately about
camp four or five species of lizards were common, all
small — from two to six inches in length. These liz-

¢ 156 $

ards lived among the crevices of the rocks some distance
away from the water, and their whole time seemed to
be spent in creeping stealthily to where they might lie
in the open upon the hot sand, and in rushing helter-
skelter back to their holes, at the slightest hint of dan-
ger. They were victims of an inordinate curiosity,
and whenever we were quiet for ten minutes or longer,
a sly glance behind would reveal a score of bright little
eyes watching our every motion. Start up suddenly,
and the tumult was laughable. Rustling and scurrying
the little brown forms would go, only to creep back
again when all was quiet. Sometimes we cornered one
near the water, but he would never plunge in. Rather
than wet himself he would take the greatest risks of
slipping through our fingers. It was amusing to see
them, when running, gradually assume an upright posi-
tion and a bipedal locomotion as their speed acceler-
ated. The greater the momentum the less use were their
fore legs. When they were moving most rapidly on
their hind legs alone, even the tail trailed straight out
behind, giving no support whatever.

Once or twice, as we came along the Colima trail, we
had noticed the black forms of huge Iguanas, as they
dived into their holes under the banks of earth by the
roadside. But here we found them at home, looking
like pieces of decayed wood among the rocky caves.
A large species of green lizard was very rare, and only
twice did we catch sight of his two feet or more of

- TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO %

body and tail lying, like a gigantic emerald, out-
stretched upon a stone. But the Iguanas (Ctenosaura
acanthura) are common, from small ones a foot long to
great fellows forty-five to fifty inches in length. Their
scales are of a dark hue and mottled, especially over
the back and neck, with flesh-colour. Along the neck
and the back is a ridge of tooth-like spines which gives
the creature an exceedingly fierce appearance. The
habits of the Iguanas are most interesting ; they appear
to be strictly diurnal, and the hotter the sun the more
they enjoy basking in it. Not until the cool of early
morning had passed did they appear, crawling slowly
out of their gloomy caverns to the highest point of
rock near by, and, holding themselves as high as their
short legs would permit, they looked carefully around
in all directions. It takes little imagination to magnify
the stone upon which an Iguana is resting into a huge
boulder, and the lizard to a measure of feet instead
of as many inches, — and the world has slipped back
two, four, six millions of years, and the Ceratosaurus
of the Jurassic Age is before us.

The Iguana is apparently soon satisfied that every-
thing is as it was the day before, and it slowly settles
down, sprawling flat upon the stone, of which, to all
intents and purposes, it becomes a part. The keenest
eye fails to differentiate rock and lizard, so exactly
does the mottling of the creature’s scales harmonize
with the weathered and lichened surface of the stone.

€ 158 >

NATURE NEAR CAMP 3gemu:

oo

But nothing ever escapes the gaze of the black spirits
of the barranca, and soon a vulture swoops close,
craning its neck and leering at the lizard to see if

IGUANA

perchance its ally, Death, has not passed here and
provided a repast. In an instant the lizard is up full
height, and with mouth wide open it sways from side
to side, then throws its head up and down, snapping

snes 159 Borne

4 TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

at the upward fling. A most remarkable performance
it is and well calculated to impress an enemy with the
formidable character of the creature. In reality the
Iguana is singularly defenceless, and these terrifying
actions are pure “ bluff.’ The upcurved pinions of
the vulture swing outward, and the bird floats evenly
across the abyss to the opposite cliff. The Iguana
seems to realize the harmless nature of the bird of
carrion since, at the approach of a hawk, the reptile
turns and scrambles, with all speed, headlong into its
hole.

When the midday heat had driven most creatures
to shade or hole, the Iguanas slept peacefully on the
heated rocks. They feed on almost any kind of veg-
etable food, — roots, bark, or leaves. We found the
flesh of these creatures delicious. “ Dios mio! Esta es
veneno /”’ exclaimed our Mexican when we brought in
a large Iguana and asked that it be cooked for supper.
We explained that it was not poison, and in fact we
found it sweet and delicate, the meat being as tender
and white as chicken, and very similar in taste to frogs’
legs. After that the Iguana appeared as a regular item
on our bill of fare. These great lizards are said to
grow to a length of six feet, but all which we saw
were under five. Their eggs are long and yellowish
white in colour. They lay about fifty during the early
spring.

Immediately opposite our camp was a large, regu-

é 160 $

NATURE NEAR CAMP

lar-mouthed cave, high up on the face of the cliff,
which we discovered was tenanted by a remarkable
assemblage of living creatures, putting to shame even
the mythical “happy families” of the prairie-dog
burrows of our Western States. Each morning a pair
of Mexican Canyon Wrens flew out of this cave, and,
after drinking at the stream below, they returned to

THE BARRANCA CAVE

$161 3

e

i TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO fem:

the entrance and sang their silvery song over and over
again. Later in the day three or four large Iguanas
crawled lazily out upon the rocks and basked for hours
in the sunshine, or scrambled along the narrow ledges
of stone, foraging among the low vegetation. Long
before the sun’s rays became tempered by the breezes
of the late afternoon the great lizards had disappeared
and the next actors upon the little stage were two
small Horned Owls. These were the most difficult of
all to observe, as they slipped out at dusk, their dark
mottled plumage melting almost instantly into the
dimness as they launched out and flew with silent
wing-beats upstream. We never discovered when they
returned.

The most unexpected sight occurred a little after the
flight of the owls. In the semi-darkness of the cave,
a confused mingling of shadowy forms was seen, walk-
ing about or reaching up with tiny hands— like a
crowd of little gnomes, up fora rest from their labours
in the great underground smelting-room of the volcan.
Soon they crowded near one side and in single file crept
along the ledge trail which led to the almost impene-
trable jungle opposite our camp — ten Mexican Rac-
coons which made this cave their home.

Once in broad daylight we made our way to the op-
posite summit, and clambered down, lowering ourselves
with saplings and hanging vines until we were at the
entrance itself. The only explanation of the apparent

vn of 162 poenne

umadée, NATURE NEAR CAMP iguun

friendly commingling of these reptiles, birds, and
mammals seemed to be that the cave extended far in-
ward, not in one large cavity or room but dividing and
subdividing mto galleries and tunnels, far too small
for us to crawl into, but in whose innermost recesses
the little wrens probably found safety. The owls per-
haps perched high up on the walls, and the Iguanas
and Raccoons disposed themselves after a manner best
known to them. There is no reason to suppose that
any of these creatures were actually befriended, or
even tolerated by the others, but the exigencies of
cave life had certainly brought together strange com-
panions. Somehow, aided by their diversity of habits,
they managed to avoid each other.

The unfortunate end of the piscatory Derby Fly-
catcher came about in this way. Some of the Raccoons
usually made their way directly to the water, and
drank and splashed about in the darkness. One even-
ing it happened that the Derby was fishing from
a sand-bar on the opposite bank. One of the coons
must have stealthily made his way through the under-
brush to within a short distance of the preoccupied
flycatcher. Suddenly we heard a loud rustle and the
poor bird gave utterance to the most piercing screams,
which echoed and reéchoed from cliff to cliff. The be-
draggled feathers of the bird doubtless rendered it an
easy prey. An instant more and a dead silence settled
over all. Next morning we found a pile of yellow

$163

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

feathers, and the telltale bear-like footprints of the
animal. The Raccoon returned the following night,
but the bird, which he found ready slain, was tied to
the pedal of a steel trap, and by the law of fate we
enjoyed a delicious stew, made from the fattest of
coons. The Derby was avenged.

Filtering through the purifying pumice, a sweet,
cold spring gushed out at the base of the cave cliff
opposite, and, in deepening a water-hole, I made an
interesting discovery under a stone —a good-sized
crab, about the size of the Spirit Crabs which are so
abundant along the southern Atlantic coast. I was as
surprised as if an anemone had drawn in its tentacles
before me in this fresh water. Land Crabs are old
friends of ours, but a typical aquatic crab, living in
this little stream, nearly four thousand feet above the
sea, seemed most astonishing. My momentary surprise
was the crab’s gain, and without warning it sidled
away into deep water, avoiding every effort at capture.
But one other was ever seen, and that too escaped me.’

Toward the end of our stay of a little over a week,
insects became more abundant, especially butterflies ;
yellow ones of four sizes, from minute little dabs of
sulphur, fluttering over the blossoms, to great golden

1 [ have later learned that the genus Pseudothelphusa, to which this
crab belonged, contains over forty species, all living in fresh water, which
range over the West Indies, and from the locality in which we were
camping, south to Peru and Brazil.

€ 164 >

£ NATURE NEAR CAMP

fellows, more than four inches across the wings, which
flapped slowly just out of reach. The dainty Heli-
conlas were quite common, and very different from any
family of butterflies which we have in the North.
Their wings are long, narrow oblongs in shape, a vel-
vety black ground colour, splashed and dotted with
bright yellow. When in the net, more conspicuous
insects can hardly be imagined; but, although they
move slowly, like soaring birds, being protected by
nauseous juices of their bodies, yet, in the woods, they
blend in a remarkable way with their environment.
They seldom come out into the open, or gather at the
sand-pools, but keep in the thick underbrush, thread-
ing the tangles of vines and fronds, floating and drift-
ing, though not a breath of air stirs the leaves. Here
where the darkness of the dense shadows is pierced by
narrow shafts of yellow sunlight, the beauty of the
Heliconias dissolves, their contrasted colours merging
into a cloak of invisibility. Three or four of these
butterflies upon a single leaf are not noticeable until
they take to flight.

Wasps and hornets now appeared and, in many
cases, began to build their nests. Picking up a stone
from near the water, one day, I alarmed a brown
spider, which rushed out. Instantly a metallic green
wasp, less than an inch in length, darted down and
the two struggled fiercely together. The contest was
short and the spider’s legs hung paralyzed and helpless.

165 >

+ TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Heus:

The wasp first flew five or six feet into the air, circled
around once or twice, then returned, and dragged its
prey (which was larger than itself) laboriously to the
top of a rock, tumbling headlong down the opposite
steep slope into the water. A very foolish wasp, quoth
I, but wait: we know not what to expect of these
tropical creatures. Without an instant’s hesitation,
as if it were an every-day habit or instinct, the wasp
stretched out its four front legs upon the surface of
the water, grasped the floating spider with its two hind
legs, and, spreading its wings, buzzed merrily upstream
over the ripples! The insect could not possibly have
flown with this heavy burden. But the end was yet to
come.

The wasp evidently wished to reach a large boulder,
some two feet from shore, past which the water swirled
rapidly. After several ineffectual attempts to tow its
burden across, it clambered along a rock on the shore,
dragging the spider just clear of the surface until it
reached a spot where the water ran with less force.
Here it again launched out, keeping close to shore.
This time it reached a point which was a foot or two
upstream above the boulder. Then the wasp turned
abruptly outward, redoubled its efforts, and instantly
was tumbled and rocked about in the midst of the rip-
ples — which, to it, were waves of no mean size. It
was carried swiftly downstream, but, by aiming toward
the rock and working its wings frantically so that they

é 166 >

wiéz NATURE NEAR CAMP ‘Heuum

were merely a dim haze, it was successful in reaching
and remaining in the eddy below the boulder, — still
water, — across which it easily ferried its burden.
Landing on the moist earth which had accumulated
there, it disappeared with the spider into a hole which
it had doubtless previously excavated.

The fact of the little wasp using the water as a
medium upon which to propel its burden was marvel-
lous enough, but the quick succession of complex events,
met with so much seeming intelligence and with such
apparent resource of expedient and such dispatch, left
us astonished beyond expression. Whether blind
instinct, or chain of coincidences, or expression of any
higher mental phase, prompted the actions of the wasp,
I will not attempt to say, but, to the observer able to
overlook the whole scene of operations and to see at a
glance all the attending causes and effects, the apparent
philosophy in the actions of the insect is startling. If
my companions had not seen the whole affair I should
hesitate to record it in print.

Every day about noon, an old, old man drove several
forlorn cows down the trail and up past our camp, for
a drink and an hour’s feed of fresh green grass. A
ragged shirt, a breech-clout, and a pair of dilapidated
sandals formed the whole of his outfit. He knew not
a word of Spanish, but jabbered cheerfully away to us
in some strange Indian tongue, -— Aztec, we pleased
ourselves by calling it, —as if we understood every

word. When he learned that we were afraid to have
his half-wild cattle roaming at will about our provision
tent, he took great pains, by means of handfuls of
expletives, to banish

2

gravel and a torrent of ‘ Aztec’
them to the opposite side of the stream. His greeting
was always ‘“‘ Ping-pong racket!” This may seem
absurdly trivial and irrelevant, yet these syllables
exactly represent his utterance. “Ping-pong racket !”
I shouted to him as he appeared with his wild charges.
‘“‘Ping-pong racket!” he answered joyfully, and patted
me on the back with an outburst of incoherent gut-
turals, doubtless expressing his pleasure at my ready
grasp of his mother tongue!

He showed us where the purest and coldest spring
was to be found, for which we were extremely grateful.
A bowl of frijoles drew expressions of extravagant
delight from him. But he seemed most pleased if only
we would talk to him, although the words could con-
vey not a particle of meaning. I would converse for
a while in my choicest German, then harangue him with
all the Latin I could recall and perhaps end with an
Asop’s Fable, or part of the multiplication table.
Whether I gravely informed him that Artemia salina
could be converted into Artemia muhlenhausii by
adding fresh water and stirring, or whether I chanted
the troubles of Aineas, the venerable “ Aztec ”’ courte-
ously listened with the greatest interest !

His final greeting was tremulous and sincere, and, as

e& 168 3

NATURE NEAR CAMP

we repeated the phrase which sounded so ridiculous to
our ears, we felt a strong pity for this poor ignorant
man, whose speech was that of long-gone centuries.
And yet he had no need of our sympathy. Day after
day for years (so we gathered from his sign language)
he had driven his cattle back and forth from some tiny
village miles away. He was faithful in this and his
happiness was full. It was overflowing when, at part-
ing, we gave him some little trinkets and our spare
change.

HELICONIA BUTTERFLIES

CHAPTER IX

NEAR THE TWIN VOLCANOS

Ne NE day we reluctantly broke camp and
packed over the trail, with mules and
« y ’ horses as before. Mile after mile we went,
now galloping across a level plain, now
plunging deep down into a tropical barranca. At high

6
~ “A
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noon we reached our objective point — the great
Barranca Vueltran, and across its wide chasm the fire
volcano loomed near and grand. But Vueltran proved
narrow at the bottom, with most precipitous sides —
not a good place to walk and watch for animals and
birds, so after a lunch of chicken and eggs, to obtain
which we searched for the eggs and killed the chicken,
we remounted and turned back upon the trail.

The sun sank lower and lower, the night loomed
black ahead of us, but we rode on and on into a wild
and unknown country, overlooked always by the two
volcanos of snow and fire. And still we found no place
suitable for camping. We were lost, and found our
path by hardest search, with only the pale moonlight
to guide us. Mexicans — some of whom appeared too
much interested in our luggage — passed us with drawl-

oo 75D
ing “Buenas noches, Senores.” Weird forms scurried

& 170 >

NEAR THE TWIN VOLCANOS

from our path; girths broke and weary mules insisted
on lying down and rolling upon their loads.

At last, exhausted and disappointed at not finding
a good water camp, we called a halt and dismounted.
The packs were slipped and the Mexican cowboy and
his animals left us. We appeased our hunger with
pan dulce and sardines, and, placing our trunks and
bags in a circle, we threw the tent over them and lay
down on the ground to sleep soundly until the sun-
light woke us and brought to consciousness the strange
dénouement of our day’s journey.

We found ourselves in a beautiful and unnamed
barranca, and, lucky indeed! with an ample stream but
a few yards away, while the changed character of the
vegetation showed that a more tropical climate reigned
here than in Atenquiqui. Our first undertaking after
breakfast was to find a good camping-place, and this
offered itself near at hand. We knew nothing of the
character of our nearest neighbours, so a little shelf of
earth, against a steep cliff, fronted by an impenetrable
tangle of thorn-bush and cactus, seemed an ideal loca-
tion. On this ledge we pitched our tents, utilizing two
open spaces below the ledge for kitchen and dining-
room. Crusoe on his desert island was hardly more
isolated than we in our snug retreat. After we had
closed the only doorway with mesquite and cactus, no
one could penetrate to our camp, save by enduring
a terrible punishment from the frightful array of

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

thorns and spines. Our blindly selected camping-place
was at the junction of an arroyo — or dry river-bed

OUR FORTIFIED CAMP

—with the clear barranca stream, and, as it proved,
we could not have chosen a more convenient and
auspicious spot.

One morning two little Mexican children, passing at
a distance, spied our tents and approached, their eyes
wide with curiosity. We had just finished breakfast,
and had an abundance left over. Senorita’s kind heart
took pity on them and she invited them to eat all they

sree 172 Brorrernnn

# NEAR THE TWIN VOLCANOS 3%

wanted. The poor little half-starved creatures rushed
at the food and ate and ate until I hardly thought that
they would survive their meal. Before they had finished,
a surly-looking Mexican rode up, fairly bristling with
revolvers and knives. We recognized him as fulfilling
the description of the “bad man”? of this district, the
leader of a gang of bandits. He may have been a hard-
ened desperado, but Seforita’s kindness to his chil-
dren, for such they proved to be, won his heart, and
our cereal “cast upon the waters” was returned to
us abundantly; for he helped us in finding certain
animals and birds of which we were in search, and in
a hundred ways thereafter firmly fixed our opinion that
a Mexican bandit, when his good will is won, is a highly
desirable person to have about camp.

FOUR LONG-TAILED BEAUTIES

In the morning we were wakened by the screams of
macaws. When the notes first reached my ear, I knew
that I had heard them before, but where I could not
think, and not until I rushed out and saw the birds
did I connect the sound with the din of a parrot-house
in a zoological park. There the harsh screams rend
one’s ears, but here, between the walls of the mighty
gorge, it is an entirely different utterance. From high
overhead the guttural tones come softened, and our
eyes following, we see a pair

always a pair — of
the great birds, with their long, sweeping tails and

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

quickly vibrating wings, passing steadily across the sky.
While thus silhouetted against the light, they seemed
black, but when they reached a background of rock
or trees their colours flashed out — beautiful living
greens with lesser tints of brown and golden olive.
They were Military Macaws, and they always flew thus
closely together, morning and evening, from roost to
feeding-ground and back. The number of kinds of
birds which remained closely associated in pairs all dur-
ing the winter was remarkable, and perhaps indicated
that many more species of Mexican birds mate for life
than is the case with the birds of our Northland.

Before we left the North we said to each other, ‘“ Of
course we shall see wild parrots,” and here were the
first of these birds, in the form of these macaws. But
we were not in the least prepared for the sight. When
all one’s life one has associated such creatures as par-
rots with cages and seed-cups, no matter how prepared
in mind one may be to see them free in their native
haunts, yet when the actual first experience comes, it
is always with a most delightful thrill to the senses.
Parrots then were not evolved, hatched, and reared on
“'T” perches with a cracker in their beaks ; but existed
after all in as wild and speechless a state as other
birds!

The macaws were not the only birds of beautiful
plumage and long tails. Occasionally a tumultuous
flock of Long-tailed Crested Blue Jays, or Magpie

174 >

sauncéz. TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

any member of thew family. Quietly hidden under
thick brush, I often looked forward to an interesting
hour’s watching of the wild life, when the sharp eyes
of one of these inquisitive birds would spy me out and
put an end to all need of concealment in that vicinity.
He would shriek and ery his loudest, alarming the
most confiding species, and making every bird within
a quarter of a mile uneasy and suspicious. Some of
these jays have white throats, outlined by a band of
blue, while in others the whole throat and front of the
neck is black. Perfect gradations existed between
these two extremes, the difference being due solely to
age. The jays seemed to feed on anything — nuts,
seeds, berries, insects, and even small birds, which,
apparently paralyzed with fear at the shrieks of the
blue marauders, were an easy prey.

A very different bird is the Rufous Cuckoo, which is
to our cuckoo as the Long-tailed Crested Jay is to our
Blue Jay —an extreme development fostered by this
lifeful tropical country. No loud-voiced rascal was
this cuckoo, but a slender shadow of a bird, which
slipped so easily through the thickest coverts that the
eye was continually losing him. At times but a distant
glimpse might be had, and again a pair of the birds
would sit quietly within five or six feet, moving in
their peculiar flowing manner from branch to branch.
They are exquisite in their plumage, which is downy,
like fine silk — a rich brown rufous from head to tail,

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while beneath, the ruddy hue melts insensibly into pink
and pearl-gray. The cuckoo had the badge of his
family in the quadruple gradation of the tail feathers,
each one tipped with black and white. The tail ex-
presses every emotion of the bird, now closing to a line
and following the creepings of its owner; now spread-
ing to a parti-coloured fan, as he hovers before a leaf
and snatches an insect; now raised high over his back,
as he stops for a watchful glance at us. We never
tired of watching these beautiful birds, so quiet, so
gentle of movement, and so soft in colour. When
quietly feeding they occasionally utter a soft mew, and
when suddenly alarmed, as at the tumult of the jays,
a loud chirp, like the alarm-note of the robin, escapes
them.

Those strange unlike cousins of the cuckoos — the
Roadrunners — never descended into our green bar-
ranca, but in the straggling mesquite near the top of
the cliffs, their slim forms, mottled and coloured with
an indescribable pattern of grays and browns, were not
uncommon. What mighty steel springs must be in
their slender legs! always crouching, as a runner start-
ing to sprint, and they are indeed runners and leapers
of the highest rank. One sailed into view one morning
from over a boulder, changed locomotion from wings
to feet, without an instant’s hesitation, and leaped
eight feet straight upward to another boulder, where
he squatted and watched us, his crest nervously rising

¢ 177 >

- TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO ¥en

and falling. Now he spied a lizard below him, slipped
off the stone, and dropped like a plummet upon the
reptile. One stroke of the bill killed his prey and then
the bird stood upon it, with his tail raised so high
that it pointed forward, like that of a wren. The Road-
runner loves the desert with its hot sand, its dusty
cactus-pads, and its dry mesquite. No water trickles
there, no leaves rustle, no birds sing amid the solitude;
and the Roadrunner too is dumb, venting his feelings
only in an occasional loud castanet clatter of his mand-
ibles — like the breaking of dry sticks.

The feet of the Long-tailed Jays, with the usual
three toes in front and one behind, seemed perfectly
adapted for perching ; but when we observed the ma-
caws climbing about the branches of trees, we thought
how admirably the condition of two toes in front and
two behind was adapted for climbing; but here was
the cuckoo as much at home in the trees as the jays,
and the Roadrunner, also with equally divided toes,
doing everything, running, leaping, climbing, and
perching; so we withdrew our theories of “ best
adaptations”? in confusion. If only Nature would
make her whys and wherefores more plain !

PARROTS AND FLYCATCHERS

Before we had been in camp two days, a flock of
small parrakeets—the Red-and-blue-headed— dashed
past the tents and alighted near by. These little

PA
178 >

THE ROADRUNNER

NEAR THE TWIN VOLCANOS

fellows have an individuality which is irresistible.
They are the most sociable little creatures, calling
loudly to each other when on the wing, and keeping
up a continuous low chuckling and chattering when
perched. One would climb, foot over foot, to a large
fruit, take several bites and return to his mate, close
to whom he would snuggle and offer his head for an
affectionate nibble. The favourite fruit of these birds
was very sticky and juicy, and the little creatures were
almost always in a disgracefully soiled condition, —
their bills and heads encrusted with the gummy liquid.
These little parrakeets were not shy, but very watch-
ful, and, when frightened, they always flew to a curious
tree which, though bare of leaves, was sparsely covered
with an odd-looking, long and four-sided fruit of a
green colour. Under such circumstances they alighted
all together, and, unlike their usual custom of perching
in pairs, they scattered all over the tree, stood very
upright, and remained motionless. From a distance of
fifty feet it was impossible to distinguish parrakeet from
fruit, so close was the resemblance. A hawk dashed
down once and carried away a bird, but the others
remained as still as if they were inanimate fruit. This
silent trust in the protective resemblance of the green
fruit was most remarkable, when we remembered the
frantic shrieks which these birds always set up at the
approach of danger, when they happened to be caught
away from one of these Parrot-fruit trees. These latter

€ 181 &

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

PARROT-FRUIT TREE

have no common name; botanists know it as Pileus
conica.

Several times during our stay we saw a beautiful
sunset flight of Finsch Amazon Parrots. A flock of
two hundred or more, massed together as closely as
possible, appeared high in air, alternately soaring and

seg 182 Goorin

umasée NEAR THE TWIN VOLCANOS fem:
fluttering. Then the entire flock swung earthward in
a magnificent loop, from wall to wall of the barranca,
the delicate lavender edgings of the feathers showing

plainly as they swept past with a loud whirr of wings,
each little foot clinched tightly close to the tail-feath-

PARROT FOOD

ers. Upward they went again, swinging together with
a grace and unison, of which one never gets a hint

from caged specimens. All the time the macaws floated
past high in air toward the west — two and two — as
alike as a single bird and its shadow.

Evening after evening we were mystified by the call
of some bird which came to our ears at the same hour.
For a long time the bird evaded our search. Lying in
wait in the hope of getting a photograph of a gigantic
raven which occasionally wheeled and croaked about
our camp, I saw a long-tailed greenish bird dash past
me and perch near by. It sat very upright and its
tail hung straight down, and it was like nothing that
I had ever seen before. And no wonder, for it was
a Coppery-tailed Trogon, the type of a family of birds
new to me. The green of the bird’s back and tail was
not conspicuous, but, when it darted up into the air and
returned to its perch facing me, the full glory of the
delicate rose-pink on its lower breast was apparent.
This hue is evanescent, not only in shade but in com-
position, and in the skin of a dead bird it will fade, and
if exposed to the light, will, in a very short time, com-
pletely disappear. The call of the trogon, uttered
especially toward evening when it came to drink, was
a soft series of melodious notes, reminding one some-
what of the content-call of a hen with chickens. Reg-
ularly at dusk two of these birds went to roost in a
dense tangle of wild clematis, whose soft, fluffy seed-
plumes were at the height of their ripened beauty.

Little doves were very abundant about camp, both

o& 184 do

; NEAR THE TWIN VOLCANOS 2

7

the Mexican Ground Doves and the Long-tailed Incas.
They rattled the dead leaves, making noise enough for
creatures many times their size, and went scurrying
through the undergrowth like little brown mice. When
frightened they clattered up and jerked themselves
through the air to the nearest tree, where they perched
lengthwise along the branches like Nighthawks. This
little trick was apparently practised by the doves of
only this locality, as elsewhere they seemed never to
have learned it. The familiar Mourning Dove of our

MOURNING DOVE

*G 185

wana TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3¥eiunc

Northern harvest fields was also abundant, spending
the winter with these smaller cousins.

The stream ran too rapidly for kingfishers at this
place, but Black Phcebes were abundant. Rock Phebe
would be an excellent name for these birds, which
perched all day on the boulders in mid-stream, making
short dashes at the gnats which hovered over the foam-
ing water. The note of the Black Phebe is sharper,
not drawn out like the voice of our pheebe, but pro-
nounced and distinct, just as his colours are clear-cut
and sharp-edged, — black above, white below, — giving
him a decided character, very different from the com-
mingling of dull hues of our bridge bird.

The sun reached our little camp beside the stream
much earlier than it did in the Barranca Atenquiqul,
and this early warmth, together with the many flowers
and juicy wild fruits on the sloping walls around us,
attracted many insects, and consequently flycatchers
abounded. We found no less than ten species of these
birds near camp, and others were seen, but too imper-
fectly for identification. So similarly were four or five
of these species coloured that it was most confusing
to tell which was which, unless several were in sight
for comparison. For every size of insect there seemed
to be a flycatcher with corresponding expanse of beak,
although at this season fully two thirds of the food of
these birds consisted of berries, two kinds predominat-
ing, one currant-like and the other larger, with pits

wna 186 Qemmnn

hike those of cherries. But wherever a goodly number
of insects were gathered together, there the flycatchers
quickly came.

Our old friends the beautiful Vermilions were not

QUERULOUS FLYCATCHER

common, but the Ash-throats were very abundant, and
their far-reaching che-hoo’! che-hoo'! rang out fre-
quently. Swainson Flyeatchers, looking for all the
world like phcebes, were confiding and gentle little
birds, and, together with a smaller yellow-bellied spe-
cies, known as the Querulous, often came close to
camp and watched us curiously. One morning a fa-
miliar note brought me quickly out of my tent, and, in

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Zfzeun

the tree overhead, seeming strangely out of place in
this wild Mexican landscape, was a company of Least
Flycatchers. We regarded every familiar bird with
suspicion at first, fearmg that what seemed so well
known might be some Western or Southern variety, but
there was no mistake this time. The half-dozen little

LEAST FLYCATCHER

gray forms sat and flung che-becs’! at one another,
exactly as they would do in Central Park, or in the
Orange Mountains, a few months later. It was too

» NEAR THE TWIN VOLCANOS 3

early in the morning for insects, and the little birds
remained quiet until, startled at the click of my cam-
era, they were out of sight in a moment.

The four largest flycatchers (all gray or brown
above, white-throated and yellow-breasted) were the
Giraud Flycatcher, the Cassm Kingbird, the Derby,
and the Pitangua Tyrant. The latter bird—the giant
of all flycatchers — can hardly be left unnoticed here,
as 1t was so conspicuous a feature of our surroundings.
It was larger than even the Derby, and it had a bill so

.

Nepean ys
xy .

flat and broad that a frog was instantly brought to
mind. Its hoarse ery was very different from the notes
of the other birds, and was not unlike the tearr-r-r ! of
an anxious mother tern. When several pairs of these
birds alighted in a near-by tree, they seemed the very
grandsires of all flycatchers. The Least Flycatchers
did not deserve their name, at least not in this bar-
ranca, for we now and then caught sight of the tiniest
and shyest of all— the Beardless Flycatcher. It was
undoubtedly a bird of this species, and we were sorry
that we did not succeed in getting close enough to it
to learn some of its habits. All of this species which
we saw later were feeding on small berries and not
on insects.

THE STREAM AND ITS FIG-TREES

Whether we sat quietly by the foaming stream or
picked our way through bushes and over rocks along
its banks, there was always something new and strange
to see, and if we could have remained years instead of
a week or two, there would have been no lessening of
interest on our part. Mexican Cormorants flew back
and forth, and, for an experiment, one day we had Ri-
cardo parboil one for us and then make it into a stew,
and we were surprised to find that the meat was tender
and that it had no disagreeable odour. These cor-
morants varied their diet of fish with certain aquatic
plants, which grew in the more quiet pools. Mallards

€ 190 &

ee Ne |

and Cinnamon Teal passed now and then, seldom

VIEW IN THE BARRANCA

alighting.

Perhaps the most constant haunters of the stream
were the Violet-green Swallows, whose white breasts
were seen all day long, darting up and down its course;

monnanee 19] Borne

* TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

now shooting ahead and suddenly bringing up, bal-
ancing a. moment on half-spread wings, then darting
on again. Back and forth they would go, in loose,
nregular flocks, winnowing the air of insects. Fifty
or more would straggle past and a few minutes later
return downstream, apparently remaining in the warm
zone, sheltered from the winds, where insects were more
abundant. These swallows and the Black Phcebes were
active even during the greatest heat of the day.

Not far from camp were several groves of wide-
branching wild fig-trees. These were the grandest
trees of this part of Mexico, branching almost from
the ground and stretching out their vast mass of foli-
age on all sides. Some of them measured fully ten feet
through, near the base. Their fruit is devoured by
cattle, deer, and birds, although in this locality it was
not yet ripe. Scores of birds were sometimes found in
one tree.

The bark was only slightly roughened and was of a
light colour, and on many trees meandering black lines
extended along the underside of the limbs and branches,
meeting and again separating, until they formed an
irregular network, ramifying throughout the whole tree
to the very topmost branches. These were earthen tun-
nels made by a species of small flesh-coloured ant. The
tunnels crumbled at a touch, and, from each opening at
the sides of the exposed area, a legion of ants appeared.
They did not immediately rush out, but the entire

of 192 3

ragged opening of the tunnel was instantly lined with
them standing partly inside, with the rear ends of their
bodies pointing outward, and the venomous sting, with
which each was furnished, working ominously. After

ANT-TUNNELS ON A FIG-TREE

a few minutes of quiet, the insects turned and advanced
slowly, with inquiring, quivering antenne, and jaws
wide open, ready for attack with either end of their
bodies. A hundred or more walked thus idly about, as
if on guard, while hosts of others brought pieces of
earth and mould and began to rebuild the broken tun-

wna 1.93 Porrrne

& TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO esc

nel, adding, bit by bit, to each end until the covered
runway was again continuous.

Tf an ant was accidentally crushed, a strong odour
of formic acid filled the air for many yards. No matter
in what part of the tree, or at what particular point in
the miles of tunnels a disturbance occurred, the ants
poured out in myriads to repair the damage. They must
have been greater in number than the very leaves on
the trees. The tunnels led into the ground, where the
main home of the colony was doubtless situated, and
into which the pieces of leaves cut off in all parts of the
tree were carried. A more terrible experience than
having to climb a tree thus guarded could hardly be
imagined, and yet large black squirrels occasionally
ran rapidly from branch to branch in these very trees.
But it was unlikely that even they remained long in
the vicinity of a damaged ant-tunnel.

Certain species of birds were confined to a very
limited area. Robins we saw nowhere except in these
groves of wild figs, where they frequently shared a
branch with some brillant tropical bird — dwellers of
lands far apart, associated for a time in the same tree.
Here, too, we found the little Godman Euphonia in
abundance —four inches of violet and yellow ; the male
with his bright yellow cap, breast, and under parts,
and his mate of a sombre greenish. The voice of the
Euphonia is out of all proportion to his size—a loud
but slow and hesitating phe-ut’ ! phe-ut’ !

¢ 194 >

mudés, NEAR THE TWIN VOLCANOS 32

Two other birds which had a very local distribution
in this locality were the Dugé Warbler and the Varied
Bunting. The former were nervous little creatures,
instantly bringing to mind Maryland Yellow-throats
in actions, notes, and choice of haunt, which latter was
always the low willows and other bushes fringing the
water. Here they were found in abundance, and with
them the Varied Buntings in even greater numbers.
Toward the end of our stay we frequently saw the male
buntings display their beautiful blue, red, and purple
hues and their “plum-coloured waistcoats” before
their brown sparrow-like mates. The Dugé Warbler is
one of the most northern representatives of the genus
Basileuterus, which, in number of species, is as highly
developed in Central and South America as is the
warbler genus Dendroica in the United States.

A Mexican boy, with the thoroughly Mexican name
of Benito Torres, attached himself to our camp as
general assistant, and proved to be honest and helpful.
Every morning he walked from his native village, six
miles away, with milk for our breakfast. I went off on
some long trips with him and learned much of a Mex-
ican boy’s lore concerning wild things. He had the
keenest scent of any person I have ever known. With
a single sniff he could invariably tell whether the in-
habitant of an armadillo’s burrow was at home or not.
This I proved, both positively and negatively, again
and again. At climbing he was wonderfully expert.

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

I believe he could “shin” up a thick marble column !
His toes would clutch the irregularities in the bark, as

BENITO

does the foot of a squirrel, and the strange fruit or

flower which I wanted would soon be in my hand.
When we went on gunless hunting trips at night, for

the purpose of watching the wild creatures, he taught me

¢ 196 >

# NEAR THE TWIN VOLCANOS 3

the singularly musical yodel, which the Mexican Indian
uses in attracting the curiosity of deer and other ani-
mals. Once we were carefully stalking a noise —it was
too dark to distinguish anything ten feet away — when
Benito softly gave the call. For a moment there was
silence, then to our surprise an answer came back and
there stepped into view an Indian with an old-fashioned
huge-bore gun, which he said, in a half-frightened
way, he had been just about to fire in our direction,
thinking that we were the deer he was after. Thus this
yodel of the Mexican serves two purposes. It attracts
the attention of the wild animal without startling it, and
it also is used to let hunters know whether man or beast
is near, thus avoiding the danger of shooting a man
by mistake. Occasionally in our tents at night we heard
this musical yodel echoing over the trail! If after a
moment there came an answering call, then we knew
that man had met man on the lonely mountain trail ;
but if to the call no answering cry came, then in the
darkness some wild creature stood, every sense on the
alert, every muscle held tense, and great wide eyes star-
ing out in the night to find the cause of this strangely
soft yet penetrating cry.

It was on one of these trips, when Benito was beat-
ing a clump of underbrush, sending lizards and birds
scurrying out, that three giant goatsuckers sailed out
and flapped blindly past. They were whip-poor-wills
twice magnified. We flushed them several times and

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Zéamus
then they flew off through the woods and we could not
find them again. This was my only meeting with the
great Mexican Goatsucker. Poor Benito! Honest and
willing to a degree, his ignorance was pitiful. Imper-
fect Spanish scholar that I was, I soon mastered most
of his vocabulary. One word with him would stand
for a score of meanings, more or less related, the
significance eked out by some eloquent and suggestive
gesture. His sign language always saved him extra
words, and it needed no translation.

THE PENDULUM OF THE BARRANCA

It was in a grove of wild fig-trees that I first saw
a Mexican Motmot, one of the most interesting and
characteristic of the birds of the tierra caliente, and
perhaps the most beautifully coloured of all the birds
we saw in Mexico. One’s first impression of a Motmot,
as seen at a distance, is of a large-headed, brown and
greenish bird, with a broad bar of black on the head.
We were fortunate enough to be able to study one
of these birds in our very camp. With a lucky shot
I stunned one with a small-calibre shot-cartridge. The
bird soon recovered and remained about the camp, re-
taining its full liberty, feeding upon scraps of meat, or
occasionally catching insects for itself. Its favourite
perch was a branch of a flowering clavillina, to which
one end of the ridge-pole of our tent was tied. Here
day after day it unconsciously posed before the camera,

$198 >

nud’ NEAR THE TWIN VOLCANOS fei

the only matter for regret being that its exquisite
colouring, which showed so beautifully on the ground
glass, must be lost on the negative.

The bill of the Motmot is large and deeply toothed
or serrated on each edge, and when angry the bird took
firm hold of one’s finger and suffered itself to be
carried dangling, for several yards, before flying off.
The crown of the head and neck are bright cinnamon,
shading into a beautiful grass-green on the back and
wings. The large, soft, brown eyes are surrounded
by a circle of feathers, very small, circular, and black
in colour. Back of the eye is a broad tuft of black,
banded above and below with beautiful blue. The
breast is a most delicate emerald green, shot with pale
blue, while exactly in the centre is a conspicuous, black,
feathery pendant, or tuft, similar to the eye-tufts.

But the most remarkable characteristic of the bird
is its long tail, which is greenish blue in colour, while
the two central tail-feathers, longer than the others,
are bare of barbs for about an inch of their length,
each feather ending in a full-vaned racket. The strange
thing about this ornament is the fact that it 1s produced
by the bird itself. When the young birds attain their
full plumage, the elongated pair of feathers in the tail
are perfect from base to tip. Guided apparently by
some instinct, each Motmot begins to pick and pick at
these feathers, tearing off a few barbs at a time with
its bill. This is kept up until the tail is in the condition

must? TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO ‘eum

which is shown in the photograph, and at each succeed-
ing moult the process is repeated.

This symmetrical denudation of the tail-feathers
might be explained as a remarkable attempt at esthetic
ornamentation on the part of the male to make himself
more beautiful in the eyes of the female ; but unfortun-

BACK VIEW OF MEXICAN MOTMOT

€ 200 +

VOLCANOS

MOTMOTS’ TAILS, YOUNG MALE AND ADULT FEMALE

ately for this theory, the habit is as strong in the one
sex as in the other. When the feathers grow out anew,
although the barbs are all present, yet the vane at this
point is narrower than elsewhere, perhaps showing that
the continual exercise of this habit for generation after
generation is in some way having an hereditary effect.
But we cannot be at all sure about this ; the inheritance
of acquired characters is too unproved a theory to war-
rant any such assertion. The real cause of the habit
would be a most interesting one to solve. In some of
the birds which we saw the process had just begun, only
a few barbs being torn away.

cnnmnsee QOL pernnnn

: TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

The day on which I found my first Motmot was very
warm and sultry, and I was glad of the shade of an
acacia. A Black-throated Gray and a Pileolated Warbler
were fearlessly feeding within a few feet, snatching
tiny insects from the blue flowers which covered the
tree.

Every green and gold feather on the body of the little
Pileolated was unruftled, and his tiny monk’s cap shone
in the sunlight like burnished jet. My glance slipped
past him, and there sitting motionless was a Motmot.
I had often wondered, when I saw mounted specimens
in museums, with what special immunity from danger
these birds were blessed, their beautiful colouring would
seem to be such a startling advertisement of the bird’s
whereabouts. But in reality the very diversity in hue
is their protection, and they merge perfectly into their
environment of green foliage and bright sunlight..
Although these birds measure fully a foot from head
to tail, yet it is not their size but their voice which
usually betrays them. This is a most startling utterance ;
several harsh churrs ! followed by three distinct,
beautifully liquid notes ; but even when this was heard
near at hand, little clew was given as to the bird’s
whereabouts, for the tones were so loud and had such
ventriloquial power that they seemed to come from
all directions at once. No sound that I heard them
utter could possibly be construed into the syllables
motmot.

f NEAR THE TWIN VOLCANOS 3geiu:

Motmots are not shy, but will permit.one to approach
quite closely before taking a short flight to a neigh-
bouring tree or bush. Just before they fly they usually
give utterance to a low chuck! chuck !— evidently an
alarm-note. This was the common sound uttered by
my tame bird when I attempted to catch it. What
betrays a Motmot more surely than its colours or even
its voice is the curious pendulum motion of its tail —
from side to side, and, more rarely, up and down.
When the bird blends so perfectly with its surround-
ings that the eye fails to locate it, the horizontal swing
of its tail marks it out. This is not a true pendulum
motion, as the tail snaps to the highest point, and is
held there for a moment before being jerked to the
opposite side.

Although the feet of the Motmot are weak and
adapted only for perching and its usual method of feed-
ing is to catch insects upon the wing, yet more than
once, while watching these birds, I saw them fly to
the ground and scratch awkwardly, picking up food
after each disturbance of the leaves. There was still
another habit which I should dismiss as an individual
freak, except for the fact that it was observed in three
different birds. These particular Motmots were not
aware of my presence, and after feeding for a time,
they flew to an open sunny spot, flung themselves flat
upon their backs and, spreading their wings, enjoyed
asun bath. The only other bird which I ever knew thus

suuééz TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

voluntarily to invert itself was a Condor, and that took
place in captivity.

Like their distant cousins the kingfishers, these
birds bore a tunnel into a vertical bank and make their
nest at the end, six or eight feet within the dark earth.
The pure beauty of the water-lily is conceived in the
filthy, noisome mud at the bottom of the pond, and
the delicate hues of the Motmot are acquired in a
black, ill-smelling, underground hole.

We shall ever regret not seeing these birds during
the period of nesting, but as with almost all other birds
in this country that occurs later in the year. One must
visit Mexico in the spring to study the birds at the
most interesting of all times — the breeding-season.

TWIN PEAKS OF COLIMA VOLCANO

CHAPTER X

THE MAGIC POOLS

GITHIN fifty paces of our tents a spring rose

eh

f)

4 strip of sand and through low bushes,
meandering so slowly that it filled several
broad shallow pools, before filtering almost impercept-
ibly into the rushing rio.

Here during the first few nights of our stay, Mex-
ican Deer came in numbers to drink, but when the
smoke of the dying embers of our fire began to taint
the air, these timid creatures frequented another pool

among’ the rocks and trickled over a level

a few yards farther downstream — out of sight around
a bend. In broad daylight we surprised a soft-coated
doe —a slender, graceful creature whose white tail
flashed up at sight of us. With one mighty bound,
she half spanned the stream and sank out of sight in
the water. Up and swimming in an instant, the deer
surged ahead, and, when just about to be dragged by
the swift water into the foaming rapids, she gained
a foothold, staggered against the current, and dashed
off into the jungle.

The series of small pools was a favourite drinking
and bathing place for many interesting wild creatures.

& 205 >

uuugé TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Zeus:
Here came the brilliant tanagers — neither the Louist-
ana nor the Hepatic nor the Cooper, which we had
expected to find, but the same Summer Tanager whose
flaming red form is so common in that place so be-
loved of birds, — and some of us, — an old-fashioned
Virginia garden. In the cool pools, a quartet of these
birds — two scarlet, two green — splashed and fluttered
each morning. The green-garbed females then led the
way to some high, sunlit tree where each feather was
preened and dried and the living spots of flame, from
very joy of life, gave utterance to their liquid double
notes.

Sometimes the Mexican Pileated Woodpeckers de-
serted their wild figs and came in great swinging loops
of red, white, and black for a brief drink at these magic
pools. Never before had I seen a member of this
sturdy race of woodpeckers on the ground. How they
do pound the sounding-boards which they find ready
to hand, fashioned by the lightning and seasoned by
the weather! Their heads vibrate until their scarlet
head-plumes become a ruddy blur, and the reverber-
ating roll comes clear and crisp. Their notes are
loud and varied, and when suspicious of danger, their
calls are like the excited scolding of Red Squirrels —
though much louder. They delight to swing on the
slender, uplifted arms of the organ cactus, leaning
far back from their firm support of feet and stiff tail-
feathers.

; THE MAGIC POOLS 3

Tn one of the lower pools was a string of frogs’ eggs
—a black-beaded cord of gelatine, five or six feet in
length. One day a large tadpole swam lazily along near
the shallow edge, nibbling at the green scum. A lizard
jumped at him, bit off a good section of tail, and
disappeared among the rocks. The shock seemed to
paralyze or kill the tadpole at once, and, wrong side up,
it floated along with the current. Tiny fish snatched
at it, white-spotted water-beetles danced around and
around it, green water-boatmen glided to it, but on
went the unfortunate tadpole. Caught in an eddy for
an instant, a giant claret-coloured mud wasp tried to
clutch it, but failed. Onward a few feet it rushed and
came to rest in a second pool, where it whirled about
for the last time, for a Black Phcebe darted like light-
ning upon it, snatched it from the water without wet-
ting a feather, and went back to his rocky perch, flirt-
ing his tail with satisfaction.

A Mexican tadpole must needs indeed be wary if he
wishes to live and grow up, like his parents, to sit upon
the brook’s edge in the pale moonlight and thrum the
great bleating roars, which resound with a heavy re-
verberating rhythm from wall to wall of the barranca.

THE THIRSTY ONES

This is a thirsty land and the pools of sweet water
are the drinking-places, not only of deer, raccoons,
birds, and other creatures of fur and feathers, but in-

# TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

sects of all orders flock to the muddy edges. Flowers
are scarce, and if nectar is not to be had, why, clear
volcano water is not a bad substitute.

In the morning, when the sun began to warm the
lower air of the barranca, little yellow and black but-
terflies (maripositas was the poetic name by which
our Mexican cook knew these tiny insects), and many
brown-winged, crook-antenneed skippers came, together
with hosts of wee lavender-wings. One small species
had long filamentous tails to the hind wings, which
were kept constantly in motion, up and down, when
the butterfly was otherwise quiet, with its wings closed
together above the back. The remainder of the insect
was of a dull hue, but these bright orange tails were
visible for fifteen or twenty feet, looking (the simile
was again and again brought to mind) like an ant with
immensely large head and body, wriggling violently
about in one place. Such an illusion would seem of no
possible advantage to the insect. Indeed I could never
discover what saved these butterflies from instant detec-
tion and attack on the part of the many flycatchers.

When the full heat of midday started cracks in the
parched pool edges, great white and yellow fellows
would float lazily down from the tree-tops, drift across
the water, and alight on a mud hillock. Their six legs
carried them to the damp dark earth and here they un-
coiled their watch-spring tongues and drew up the cool
moisture. So greedily did they imbibe that one could

«$ 208 >

walk up to them and pick them from their places, while
at other times these very butterflies would not come
within many yards of our net.

The under side of the wings of these insects was
a pale pea-green; while above, one species (Anteos
meerula) was of a delicate yellow-green, and a second
species (Anteos clarinde) was whitish with a bold stain
of the richest, warmest orange. When these latter
alighted, their wings snapped together, and what a
moment before was a conspicuous span of colour was
now but a faded greenish leaf fallen to the pool’s edge.

With these, in the heat of the day, came rarely beau-
tiful butterflies of jet, shot with rich purple. Only
a few were seen and these were wary and alert. Their
wings were never still. When they alighted for a mo-
ment’s sip beside the pool, their legs were bent, their
wings nervously a-quiver, ready for instant flight.
A Black Pheebe once dashed at one with a lightning
swoop, but the motion of the bird was leisure itself
compared to the swift escape of the insect. The only
way to capture one of them was to stalk it carefully,
creeping behind rock and bush, and swooping with the
net a full yard beyond the insect. Even then the chances
were always in favour of the butterfly.

Mud wasps — yellow, red, and white — worked all
day gathering tiny pellets of the stream-refined clay,
bearing them aloft to plaster tree or rock with egg-
protecting tunnels; undoing, in their small way, the

suet, TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 2

work of the elements. Red-barred tiger beetles flew
and scampered about, grotesque toad-hoppers made
flying leaps from the nearest trees to the water.

These and many other insects had their favourite
hour at the Magic Pools, and when the afternoon waned
their place was taken by ever-changing hosts of other
thirsty ones. When the great shadow leaped the brook
and began to climb the opposite slope, the wood-sprites
descended from the sweet-flowered acacias. First, those
which, in habit like Catocala Moths, loved the trunks
of rough-barked trees. Very different from the giant
Yellows, they always kept their wings spread. Their
life-secret, which must ever be hid from the eyes of
the world, is the light gray splashing of their under
wings. To show this were to court death quickly. So
with low-curved wings they sailed in an even slope to
the mud, upon which they flattened their lichen-hued
pinions. When their thirst was quenched there was no
dallying. With three or four quick flaps they hurled
themselves at the trunk of the nearest fig-tree and van-
ished. During this swift return flight, at each move-
ment of the wings, a sharp crackling sound was made.

Verily instinct is not a thing at which to scoff.
Here was a fragile insect just hatched from its inert
chrysalis. It saw other butterflies fluttering slowly
past, alighting at the edge of the water and waving
their wings in enjoyment of the cooling drink. Why
should it not do likewise? Why should it, unlike them,

210 $

THE MAGIC POOLS

sail steadily from tree to pool, snatch a proboscisful of
the water, and dash frantically back to the roughened
bark, there to cling motionless with flat pressed wings,
until its thirst calls it again to the pool ? How could
it know all this? How could such philosophy be passed
on, through egg and worm and chrysalis, to its tiny
thread of nerve-stuff? We asked in vain, and the great
fig-tree rustled its leaves in the wind and seemed to
close protectingly around the insect which had flown,
so full of trust, to its bark. These butterflies (Agero-
nia atlantis) were very abundant in certain places at the
edge of the jungle, fluttering in the air a moment and
then snapping back, flat to the trunks of trees as if
governed by some form of magnetism which they were
powerless to resist.

Another wood-haunting species of butterfly ( Victor-
ina stelenes) defied detection even when we knew to
a certainty its position to within a few inches. Its wings
were dark brown, blotched with large ovals, circles,
and irregular figures of transparent green. When it
alighted, it held its wings flat and vanished from
sight, hidden by the myriad spots of sunshine and
shadow all about it, which the markings on its wings
so exactly simulated.

THE FAMISHED ONES

However continuous and varied the succession of
thirsty wild creatures all through the day; however

bn
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; TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 2

rarely or frequently any species haunted the barranca
near our camp, one at least seemed never absent.
Probably every step or motion we made — from early
morning to the last tying of the tent flap at night —
was watched by the omnipresent eyes of a vulture,
either near at hand or a mile above the barranca wall.
With our most powerful glasses we sometimes detected
in the blue heavens a tiny black mote, which the naked
eye could not distinguish. And yet to such a bird our
every motion was doubtless visible. At such a height
the barranca abyss must be like a mud crack near the
pools ; we, tinier than the lesser insects. No realistic
picture of this country should ever lack a black form,
high in the sky, soaring incomparably with wide-
extended primaries, clutching ever at the empty air.
When nearer, the vultures seemed hardly birds, so
silent and fearless were they. The Caracaras, which
associated with them, were more wary and given to
occasional screams. But the buzzards, flying near,
whether black or red-headed, only peered silently at
us, their whistling wings passing close overhead when
the report of our gun brought to them hope of some
slain bird, lost or fallen out of our reach. Fifty times
they sailed onward, disappointed. The fifty-first time
they came as quickly, peered as eagerly. Hunger must
often pinch them sorely, living things are so abundant,
dead creatures so seldom seen. When we set traps for
opossums or raccoons, unless carefully concealed, it was

$ 212

more than likely that the next day a coughing, unsav-
oury vulture had devoured the bait and was waiting
patiently to be set free.

One day at the edge of the stream, I undertook to
prepare an armadillo for the pot. His tough skin
made it a rather difficult and engrossing task and for
some twenty minutes I did not look up from my work.
While on my way to the water I had thoughtlessly
noticed a single black speck high up overhead, so usual
a sight that I hardly remembered it. When at last
I rose from my completed work and painfully stretched
my cramped limbs, every dead tree and conspicuous
boulder within a large area held its complement of
vultures — Black and Turkey. It was most uncanny.
Their skinny necks stretched out toward me; nearly
a hundred red and ebony heads peered through leaves
and over rocks and dead limbs, forming a ring of
watchful ghouls. Overhead the sky was quartered in
every direction by scores of others. Within a few
minutes all these birds had come, each guided by the
suggestive descent of some brother vulture, who in
turn had well interpreted his neighbour’s actions. All
were waiting patiently for the expected feast. And
what a feast! It was the “loaves and fishes” over
again without any chance for a miracle. Nearly two
hundred birds — all told —as large as turkeys were
eagerly waiting for the moment when I should leave to
them the remains of one small armadillo !

& TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

It is strange that this host of famished ones never
gets up courage enough to attack living creatures of
any size. We once observed a half-hearted attempt
upon an Iguana. The vultures often swoop close to
these lizards as they lie basking in the sun, but this
particular vulture alighted close by and made an ugly
rush at the prostrate reptile — hissing and pecking at
him. The Iguana did not drop at once, but turned
tail, not to run, however, but evidently to bring this
member into play, and a single fell swoop of this mus-
cular appendage knocked the feet of the vulture from
under him and he flew off hissing with disappointment,
while the Iguana dived to the bushes below and sought
his hole.

THE POOLS AT EVENING

The most interesting time to watch the Magic Pools
was toward late afternoon, when our shadow dial had
climbed well up and only the higher parts of the cliff
still glowed with the sun’s rays. The Iguanas which had
been basking high among the branches now clambered
down or voluntarily pitched themselves head first into
the underbrush. When they are flattened out close to
a branch, it is almost impossible to detect them, not
only on account of their marvellous likeness to the mot-
tled bark, but because of their habit of slowly slipping
to one side or the other, keeping the branch always
between you and themselves. If we sat quiet and sent

waedés, THE MAGIC POOLS Yen:

the Mexican to the other side of the tree, the Iguanas
would forget our presence and think only of the mov-
ing figure beneath them. As the boy passed to the
other side, a dozen shapeless forms would revolve slowly
upon the branches toward us.

It was startling, to say the least, when watching for
the first arrivals of the evening, to see a huge black
apparition shoot through the air, limbs and toes wide
stretched, to land with a crashing flop into some thick
bush. No wonder Pterodactyls and birds evolved early
from an ancient reptilian stem, if such recklessness
inspired them ; such trust in a medium through which
they must, at first, have fallen with as leaden a drop as
did these Iguanas !

Cormorants and teal now at the end of day flew
downstream with steady rapid wing-beats and the swal-
lows disappeared suddenly, going early to roost. The
last butterfly and wasp reluctantly left the pools,
driven by the cool breeze which began to drift down
with the stream from the cold mountain-tops. The
quaver of trogons was heard, coming from the upper
arroyo to drink and then to roost in the feathery masses
of downy, white clematis. Canyon Wrens quenched
their thirst and the cool water cleared their throats for
a few minutes of sleepy, silvery notes — the merest hint
of next morning’s chorus.

The first bat flitted past and — strange custom for
such creatures — clambered down a steep rock and

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. TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

lapped eagerly at the little pool. From the top of the
rock he then took a flying drop and was off on his
night’s hunt.

The light had now lessened considerably, and, half
concealed in a little hollow among the boulders, we
were not observed by any of the creatures which passed
to the water. Almost at the same minute each evening
doves began to drop down and drink —long and
thirstily — dove-fashion. Mourning and White-fronted
Doves whistled by us in hundreds, drank and flew on
past the tents up the arroyo to some secluded roosting-
place. During the day these doves were scattered
abundantly all over the surrounding uplands, feeding
on berries and fruits. They were fat and tender and
formed our staple diet, being always easy to obtain and
quickly prepared.

Shortly after the last bird straggled past, there arose,
from some quite indeterminate direction, a low, sooth-
ing monotone; asound so indefinable, so minor a chord
in Nature’s harmony that it escaped the ear at first.
Soon it became more distinct —a double throb could
be distinguished. It seemed to come from a solitary
dead tree which was silhouetted against a certain spot
over the barranca wall, where the moon would soon
vise. “ Whip-will! whip-will ! whip-will!” we inter-
preted it. But the resemblance to the note of our
Northern bird of the night was but slight. Soon a
something appeared from the dusk and a patch of black

rested upon a stone where nothing was before. It
seemed rat-like, and crept slowly toward the water, at
the edge of which it stopped and drank. Then it took
to wing and flew in low circles back and forth. This

RIDGWAY WHIP-POOR-WILL

was the author of the mysterious monotone, which even-
ing after evening had held our attention and excited
our curiosity. And even when we had secured a speci-
men and learned the name of the bird, it was but to
unfold another mystery. It was the Ridgway Whip-
poor-will, the second of its kind ever discovered. The
first was observed several hundred miles south of our

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

camp, and of its nest and eggs and wanderings nothing
is known. This bird which came so familiarly to drink
at the pools was once joined by its mate — presumably
—and the two hawked together over the low rocky
ground, engulfing unfortunate gnats and moths. More
abundant, but absolutely silent, the Mexican W hip-poor-
wills haunted the bushes, beating the insects from their
tops and snatching them as they took to flight.

MYSTERIES OF THE NIGHT

A Ring-tailed Cat squealed from the entrance of its
cave somewhere up among the dense shadows on the
cliff wall, and presently the little animal leaped to some
overhanging tree and scrambled down to level ground.
This creature long remained a mystery to us.

By obstructing and turning aside the gentle flow
of the spring, the soft, smooth, muddy floor of one
of the pools was each evening uncovered, and on this
telltale mirror of earth the animals which passed in
the night, on their way to drink, registered their every
movement. Raccoons and deer we easily recognized,
but several sizes of true bear-like palms confused us.
We knew also that no coyotes or Mexican dogs were
thereabouts, although here were tracks to put our
knowledge to naught.

By tempting with the skinned bodies of birds and
with bits of refuse food placed on a certain boulder,
we gradually won the confidence of all the more wary

sian 9G 218 Bown

THE MAGIC POOLS

creatures of the night, but we did not attempt to ob-
serve them until, for some time, they had drawn upon
these supplies. Then we set ourselves to watch.

Shrill little squeals have often wakened us at night,
and now the little black and white creature which is
making its way so stealthily through the leaves gives
utterance to this strange cry. The moonlight is bright

RING-TAILED CAT

and every detail is plain, as the animal leaves the
shadows of the underbrush.
Its motions are quick and cat-like, its ears small and

swt 219. Bernsen

mus. TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Zési

erect, surmounting a tiny face like that of some little
gnome of the woods. Mouth and nose are pointed,
eyes large and lustrous, glowing round and deep in
the pale light. But what the gorgeous train of
feathers is to the peacock, its tail is to the Ring-
tailed Cat. The creature stands half crouching, listen-
ing to all the night sounds, when suddenly its tail
appears, — no bare opossum-like affair, nor even like
the more fluffy appendage of a raccoon, but a great
filmy mass, ringed white and black, curling and furling
gracefully over and around the little animal. Now the
hairs le close and the tail narrows, again it expands
and fluffs out larger in diameter than the entire body
of the little cat.

Here the Ring-tailed Cat, or Bassariscus, — for he
seems to have no generally accepted common name, —
comes and goes, taking bits of meat to his family
somewhere up among the rocky cliffs. He isa full-
grown animal and yet his tiny face has a wistful, almost
infantile expression. How interesting must be the baby
Ringtails! But the innocent expression of these little
fellows is only skin deep. Great is the havoc they work
among the sleeping doves and other birds which roost
near by. They are somewhat like the raccoons, but are
much more active and cat-like. Among the branches
they are at home and can run up a tree-trunk like a
squirrel. A strange habit is that, like the Iguanas,
they sometimes leap from high limbs, crashing down

4 THE MAGIC POOLS %
among the dense underbrush. The first few times this
happened near our tents, we looked out, fully expect-
ing to see that the animal which had leaped to our
camp niche, was as large as a Jaguar.

The Ring-tailed Bassariscus is interesting on ac-
count of its relations to the raccoons. A study of its
skeleton shows that it is almost identical with certain
fossil dog-lke creatures which lived during the geo-
logical age known as the Oligocene, perhaps over a
million years ago. These animals of ancient-days were
the direct ancestors of the modern raccoons. So it was
a hint of the far-distant past which squealed and
leaped about our tent at night. Through all the cen-
turies, this little animal has preserved the structure of
its ancestors, changing but little down to the present
day.

It was a rather odd fact that all the creatures which
inhabited the caves of the barrancas had tails ringed
white and black ;— the upturned tails of the Canyon
Wrens, the coons’ tails, the owls’, and the remarkable
appendages of the Ring-tailed Cats.

Within a few days after our tents were pitched, they
were accepted by the wild creatures as perfectly nat-
ural additions to their little world — perhaps an up-
heaval of whitish voleano stuff. At any rate they voted
the canvas roofs great fun, and the curious creatures
within as harmless. The moonlight shone through the
tent upon us, sharply silhouetting every branch and

sume” -TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

leaf. Wild mice ran and squeaked about the edges of
the tent, holding an orgy over the supper crumbs.
Some great night insect would come with a buzz and
a thud against the sloping top, and crawl clumsily to
the ridge, from which he would take heavy flight.
Every leg and claw was distinct in his shadow silhouette,
as he climbed upward. Now a long-drawn squeak
came, and the tent shook as a little mouse-like form
alighted on the apex. These flying-squirrels, or leap-
ing-mice, — for we never succeeded in getting a good
look at them, — must miss the smooth tent slope down
which they so loved to slide. To us, their frolic
showed a dark, sprawling, shadow-mass gliding swiftly
down the tent roof, and shooting off down the hill-
side.

What a difference results from the various ways of
looking at things in this world! To us, our camp was
an ideal little home, comfortable and _ all-sufficing.
The sixteenth of an inch of canvas wall shut out
the great world, or rather shut a tiny portion of it
in, and behold, all wildness vanished! This little
rooty space — ten by twelve feet — might have been
trodden by us for years, and by our ancestors for
generations, so familiar did it seem after a week’s
inhabitance. But to the squirrels, or mice, or what-
ever they were, here was a most fascinating “ chute,”
—a run, jump, and slide, — which ended in a veri-
table paradise of biscuit crumbs.

nme 222. orm

THE NOISY AND THE SHADOWY ONES

The most noisy of all the creatures which visited us
by night were the armadillos. Skunk-like, they deemed
themselves well protected, albeit in another fashion,
and they scuttled through the bushes and vines with
no precautions for silence. A wild steer could make
his way through thick cover with less commotion than
could one of these armoured pigs — porcine in the taste
of their flesh and in their actions and their snout, if
not in nomenclature.

Again and again, while coming to camp at night or
in the dusk of early morning, a something would pass
and vanish from our path. At first it seemed like a
momentary flicker of an eye muscle or a trick of the
moonlight. But before long we realized that there
were wild creatures, —of large size, too, — which
moved like shadows, too swiftly, too silently, too
much the pale hue of the moonlight, for our senses
to follow and distinguish. “ H//os son los animos de
los muertos,” and the Mexican shivered at the thought.
But we were incredulous. We determined to see more
of these “ spirits of the arroyo’s dead,” if such things
were.

So night after night we watched, and night after
night revealed nothing. Yet, if we dozed but a moment,
or if a clumsy armadillo drew away our attention, the
bait we had placed was gone — vanished. And next
day Ricardo shrugged his shoulders and his “ Quien

4 TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3em:

sabe!” had more of an I-told-you-so accent than ever.
But sometimes the faintest of dog-like tracks remained
in the sand at morning.

As with many mysteries in Nature it was when we
ceased to think of it that it was solved. One evening,
during a week when the moonlight made useless our
candle-lanterns, and the trees and bushes and rocks
were enveloped in the pale fairy light from the lumin-
ary which seemed suspended so close over the bar-
ranca’s summit, we found the solution to our mystery.
The air seemed too full of light to stir — we in the
North do not know what real moonlight is. In the
silence I could count each beat of my heart, and soon
the rhythm increased in volume and, without abrupt-
ness or knowledge of the change, I was listening to
the beat-beat-beat-beat of the Ridgway Whip-poor-
will.

The spell of the silent night, the rise and fall of the
voleano’s fire, and the eternal monotone of the bird
held me spell-bound, until my body seemed but part of
the quiet whole. Never have I stood so still in my life.
Every nerve and muscle seemed at rest. Instead of
a novel sensation, it seemed as if I had stood there for
ages. Like Atlas, there would soon spring up trees
between my feet.

Before me was the grayish-white sandy bed of the
arroyo, with its scattered boulders, shadowless because
of the zenith moon. The misty path reflected a cool,

of 224 >

: THE MAGIC POOLS ‘emu

Se

velvety light. The texture of the sand seemed soft and
loose.

Suddenly, fifty feet away, a spot of sand seemed to
shift and move and flow along, winding, sinuous as a
snake, around the boulders. Only my mind started, alert
at the sight. My body was as immovable as the rocks. I
knew that this was no animo; the mystery, intangible,
yet not disdaining a nightly portion of the food spread
for it.

Not until the something came many feet nearer did
my eyes make out the outlines of a Gray Fox. No more
wonderful resemblance ever existed between an ani-
mal and its surroundings. The ghostly creature moved
so close to the ground that it apparently cast no
shadow. From head to tail, not a distinguishing tint or
mark was visible,—all gray, gray,—a sand wraith
in fox form. Suddenly, from nowhere, a great vulture
swooped low over the sand. What could ever escape
his eye! And when the swish of his wings and his
shadow, blacker than himself, had passed, the fox was
gone, — as if it had melted to nothing or sunk into
the sand.

Five minutes passed, the fox moved, and my eyes
again found him. He glided to the remains of our veni-
son supper, stopped, looked straight at me and knew
me for what I was. Back on his trail he turned, and
glided swiftly from view into the darkness of the arroyo.
Something drew my head around and there, behind the

& 295

HY

# TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

camp, a brother fox, with a mouthful of provender, was
stealing noiselessly up a loose gravel-bank into thick
cover. With any other creature the bank would have
given way, sending down a shower of sand and dried
leaves. In the morning a few dog-padded prints veri-
fied my vision of the preceding night, but a breath of
air soon blew the light sand into the tracks — so care-
fully does Nature protect her children. And thus was
solved the mystery of the mud tracks near the pools.

Nothing but a fox after all! Oh, but such a fox!
As different from our Reynard of the North as a lithe
greyhound is from a bungling terrier. And when we
captured one, he proved to be the Guatemalan Silver-
gray Fox, and examined by daylight, how different
he seemed —slinking, cowering, trembling, begging
with fearful eyes for the moment when we should set
him free again. For what was his skin to us compared
to seeing the convulsive leap of joy with which he
returned to his life of wild freedom !

The colour of this fox in the broad light of day
was very different from what we had supposed it to
be. A grizzled silvery gray was the predominant hue,
but in the pale, all-absorbing moonlight, no hint of
the deep rufous or the black markings was ever to be
detected.

Thus, little by little, we came to know the wild
kindred which shared this barranca with us; like
us, drinking of its waters, gazing at the soaring of

€ 226 +

the vultures, listening to the rumblings of Colima and
watching its smoke and flame; hearing the hundred
voices of the dawn, the evening, and the night.

NINE-BANDED ARMADILLO

CHAPTER XI
ALONG THE STREAM OF DEATH

SH learned that the dried-up stream-bed, at
whose junction with the barranca stream
we camped, was known by the sinister
name of 7 Arroyo del Muerte, — The
Dry Stream of Death,

not, however, because of any lack of life along its

and the name was well given;

sinuous course, even during this dry season of the
year. In years past, its winding stream-bed was much
used as a short-cut trail, and mule-trains of fifty and
a hundred animals often passed and repassed through
it. At the beginning of the rainy season, somewhere
up on the voleano’s slope the water would collect,
held back by débris, until the great weight broke all
barriers and the flood poured, like an avalanche, down
the arroyo, carrying away men and animals, like mere
chips in its seething waters. Hence the appellation
del Muerte.

But the rainy season was yet far off, and we found
the recesses and dark defiles of this dry waterway a
most delightful place for exploration. After the summer
rains cease, the annual torrent dwindles to a mere
trickle, and even this at last filters through the porous

swum 228. Borne

sung ALONG THE STREAM OF DEATH iim

sand. No sooner has the water disappeared than the
life of the neighbouring banks and of the jungle,
stretching back on each side, begins to encroach on the
water-worn trail, and at the time of our visit plants
have sprung up, flowers bloomed, and the creatures
of the wood and air use it as a convenient path to the
water in the great barranca.

The lower part of the arroyo is wide and the sides
slope gently outward, but a little distance farther up
it makes a sharp bend and narrows quickly ; from there
onward its dark recesses are luxuriant with vegetation,
isolated from the outside world, and greatly beloved
by the wild creatures.

In the lower reaches of the arroyo we saw for the
first time a gray and black bird which has no common
name but was most interesting to us as being the
first member, that we had seen, of the great tropical
family Cotingide. To this family belong birds noted
for their marvellous colours, crests, or voices, such as the
Cock-of-the-rock, the Umbrella-bird, and the Bell-bird.
This Frog-bird, as we nicknamed him, had none of
these characteristics to distinguish him, although his

plumage was rather attractive —a pearl-gray body and
tip of tail, with black flight feathers, tail, and face.
The female, however, had no black on the head. We
may call it the Gray-headed Tityra (Zityra personata
griseiceps). The broad bill, naked skin on part of the
face, clumsy body, and hoarse croaking were the reasons

& 229 &

{ TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO ifs
for our comparing these birds to batrachians. These,
like so many other birds in this country, were always
seen in pairs.

Tropical foliage cannot endure the heat of the sun
on these dry, sloping arroyo walls, and if we climbed
to the top, we passed only mesquite and cactus — the
broad-leafed nopal and the stately organ, or candel-
abra cactus. The latter sometimes grow to a great
height, symmetrical and dignified, the deep-ribbed
spiny branches each pointing straight upward, with no
foliage to flutter, no leaves to fall. The wind makes no
murmuring, no sighing, among these strange growths.
The thick stems lay up a great store of moisture in
their spongy cells, not for a “rainy day,” but for a
rainless one, for the months when not a drop falls.
Here was really a little desert of a few acres’ extent,
set in the midst of tropical greenness; for below, the
springs kept the vegetation ever luxuriant.

Woodpeckers and other birds had bored their round
holes in the cactus branches, and they doubtless nested
there later in the year. Beneath them the Roadrunners
loved to run and leap and watch for lizards ; here also
the great lazy Iguanas had dug deep burrows in the
sandy soil. Once I surprised and seized by the tail
a big fellow, basking in a clump of tall grass, where
he could not observe my approach. I felt as if I had
grasped a prickly, animated, steel spring, and my
strength was almost gone, when there was a sudden

mundée ALONG THE STREAM OF DEATH ‘emu

relaxing of the strain and I fell backward, while the
Iguana shot ahead into a steep hollow among the
rocks. I had nine inches of tail in my hand and the
Iguana seemed not a whit discommoded by his loss.
After a hard struggle I secured him and kept him still
long enough to photograph him, together with his
discarded member, after which he rushed rapidly off
to his hole. The entire reptile measured twenty-eight
inches, and we realized that he was thus able to cast
off one third of his entire length with impunity.

This breaking off of the long tails of lizards is a
most interesting process, besides being of the greatest
value to the creatures themselves. Before an Iguana
emerges from the egg, its skeleton is not bony, but
formed of a jelly-like substance which soon becomes of
the consistency of hard gristle. This is called cartil-
age, and later, when the true bone is deposited, a wad
or pad of this cartilage remains unossified between each
of the vertebra, forming the backbone. This is true of
almost all the higher animals, but, in the tail-bones
of the Iguana, a little wedge of cartilage is found, ex-
tending almost across the centre, or the centrum, as it
is called, of each bone. This, of course, causes a great
weakness of the whole bone, and if such a condition
existed in the upper back or neck, it would, indeed, be
unfortunate for the lizard. But in the tail it proves an
admirable safeguard. Here the muscles are very thick
and short, and opposite the centre of each bone, and

they dove-tail into one another. So now it is clear that,
if an enemy — myself in this instance — grasps the
tail (which is the last exposed part of the animal as it
dives into its hole), the violent struggles of the Iguana
are sufficient to complete the crack which the wedge
of cartilage always holds open, and the short muscles,
slipping from their dove-tailed positions, give way, and
thus separate the Hiwana—as the Mexican tongue
pronounces it — and his tail !

If this were all, an Iguana could have but one such
chance of escape in his life, and if the break came
between the tail-bones instead of across the middle of
one of them, the creature would indeed go curtailed

through life. But by another kindly provision of Na-
ture, the exposed cells immediately begin to grow and
before long, behold, a new tail! But in reality a sham
one, for from the stump there grows out a long, un-
jointed rod of cartilage, not bone, with but few muscles,
and skin which is covered with very small spmes. But
little the Iguana cares about the internal structure of
his new appendage; the fact that it is there, and may
again be cast off in case of dire extremity, is all sufficient
to him. It is a most interesting fact that, as the newly
regenerated rod of cartilage recalls the condition of
bone in the embryonic state, so the more simple ar-
rangement of spines on the new skin sometimes harks
back to an ancestral condition. The new tail thus bears
upon it the shadow of the distant past.

waned ; ALONG THE STREAM OF DEATH Sum:

It was evident that, before my attempt to capture
the Iguana, he had once been assailed, perhaps by
hawk or eagle, and his tail broken off. The new

BROKEN TAIL OF IGUANA

scalation is plainly shown in the photograph, two joints
below the second break, — fully seven inches of the
nine which came off in my grasp being sham tail. Soon
the break heals over and the new growth begins to
push out.

The adolescent cells in the exposed wedge of cartil-
age are so full of life and tail-making vigour that the
renewed member is sometimes double, or even triple.

$ 233 >

~ TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

bh

Indeed, if the remaining tail-stump is slightly injured
on top or on the side, a tiny extra tail may shoot out,
where it is never meant to be.

Scattered among the cactus and under the boulders
were burrows larger than those of the Iguanas, and
in these lived the quaint Nine-banded Armadillos.
Occasionally our Mexican dug out a young one and
we varied our bill of fare with his tender flesh; but
the tough, older ones we caught, watched, and freed
again.

Very rarely one may come upon an armadillo, as
we did, asleep before his hole, sprawled out flat upon
the earth, his little pig eyes tightly closed, his tail
stretched straight out behind. But the long, delicate
ears stood stiffly upright, giving a ludicrously alert
aspect to his otherwise inert form. A pebble crunched
into the sand under our feet and the sharp ears car-
ried the warning, and, with a single glance, the little
animal turned with surprising agility, and literally
hurled himself into the entrance of his burrow. An
armadillo seems absolutely defenceless when cornered
and never thinks of anything but escape. When
once his powerful claws have opened a way, even
but a few inches, into the ground, it needs a strong
pull to dislodge him. There are no weak joints in his
tail !

From head to tail the scaly armour protects the arma-
dillo; his shoulders and haunches are each encased in

§ 234 >

a single inflexible piece, while nine bands about the
centre of the body save him from the immobility of
a turtle. What a strange creature! We might imagine
that Tatu, for some crime, had been condemned to for-
sake the appearance and activity of the fur-covered
animals and simulate the scaly creatures of the dust.
One cannot help comparing the armadillos with the
Iguanas. Science, however, allows us no such imagery,
and, with ruthless scalpel, proves the former’s kinship
with sloth and ant-eater. The armadillos hereabouts
were certainly neither solitary nor exclusively nocturnal,
and we often saw them vanishing into their holes at
midday, as we came suddenly upon them, although
they were also found foraging at midnight.

After capture, an armadillo scorns to seek protec-
tion by rolling up in a ball. We very much desired to
photograph one thus, but failed to do so. We spent
several hours in rolling one into a close sphere, but the
aggravating creature as often promptly unrolled and
made off.

THE SUMMIT AND EDGE OF THE LITTLE DESERT

A few steps upward from the zone of Tatu and
Iguana burrows, and we were upon the crest of the
arroyo wall. The level plain in front of us was fretted
with dark, sinuous lines—the wooded edges of deep
narrow barrancas, tracing the course of streams. In
the distance Colima stood as ever —two peaks, deep,

umask, TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

shadowy blue, against the paler blue of the sky. From
the living cone a line of white smoke wreathed upward
and drifted toward the other peak, where it dipped and
drifted about the snow-capped summit, merging its soft
filminess into the glistening snow.

All about our feet, and in many other places around
our camp, grew clumps of the little club-moss, known
as the Resurrection Plant. We had often seen it sold
in New York and wondered where its home could _ be,
and here we found it, clinging in thousands to the
scanty film of parched earth in the crevices of the
boulders and cliffs. Each plant is like a little incurved
ball of arbor-vite foliage, dry and brittle, but when
placed in a spring or a pool of water, it opens wide its
little array of leaves, which, in a day or two, turn from
brown to green and send forth a spicy perfume. A
bucket of water thrown among a multitude of these
plants awakens into a brief greenness every one upon
which it happens to fall; but soon, unless kept moist,
the little leaves close and return to their parched
condition — the little brown fists are clinched again.

Descending the arroyo wall obliquely, we continued
up the dry canyon, and at the very edge of the desert
patch, we came upon the first closed wasp’s nest we
had seen. Among the mesquites of the Guadalajara
country, the wasps built their combs exposed to the
light and air, but here, on the low cactus-pads, they
made round paper structures, with a single entrance

% 236 >

at the side. The yellow-bodied little workers were but
half an inch in length and their home eight inches
in diameter, but when a lizard unwittingly crept with
short jerky advances upon their cactus-pad, jarring
their nest, the tumult was such that we fled for our
lives.

Here, at the edge of the open, the Western Mocking-
birds loved to perch and whisper their songs. None
were as yet full-voiced, but all were practising, and as
one passed a low thorn-bush, there came to the ear
a harmony, — low and blended as if from a great dis-
tance,

and there, within a dozen feet, was the gray
and white mastersinger.

As we entered the more luxuriant growth along the
stream-bed, the character of the birds, insects, and
plants was wholly changed. The dull-coloured inhabit-
ants of the sandy country were left behind, and here
bright tints and green hues prevailed. A blossoming
tree, which we found very abundant throughout the
tierra caliente, was the primavera of the Mexicans, so
called from its early spring blossoms ( Cochlospermum
hibiscoides). Although yet leafless, its branches sent
forth a myriad bell-shaped blossoms of brightest yel-
low, growing in such profusion as sometimes to form
one solid mass of colour. Amid these we found a very
diminutive hummingbird, nameless to us, green and
white, with a lavender throat and a black streak
through the eye.

#% TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO finn

LIVING MOSS, SUNLIGHT, AND LEAVES

The arroyo now narrowed to one hundred feet, and
tall trees cast a refreshing shade. Here and there a
spring oozed from an overhanging ledge, trickled a few
yards, and disappeared in the sand. Moss and lichens
clothed the face of the cliff, and air-plants and orchids
hung gracefully from the rocks and branches over-
head; the mouths of gloomy hollows and caverns now
and then darkened the mass of verdure. We selected
a cool, shady defile, and, relieving ourselves of cameras,
gun, and insect-net, we explored the little glade around
us. Convolvulus blossoms — scarlet and blue — bright-
ened the shadows, and in lighter spots a species of
beautiful flowering-grass, not unlike the Pampas grass
of florists, grew luxuriantly.

Several times I passed two or three patches of what
I took to be dense growths of a brown hair-like moss,
springing from an overarching bank of turf. In at-
tempting to pick a blossom almost out of reach, my
hand came in contact with the moss and to my surprise
it began to scramble away! A second glance revealed
the truth. Thousands of Daddy-long-legs had gathered
in this limited space, clinging with their jaws close to
the earth, while all their legs dangled down and out-
ward. When quiet returned to the mass of little
creatures, not one of their bodies was visible, nothing
but thousands upon thousands of thread or moss-like
legs hanging free. The photograph shows a few indi-

viduals on the outside making their way back into the
general mass. A week later, when we again visited this
spot, the “‘ Daddies” were in exactly the same place
and position.

Such a remarkable protective scheme was worth a
whole day’s search, but the arroyo fairly showered
marvels upon us. While walking up the dark ravine I
saw, to my amazement, four flecks of sunshine dancing
slowly ahead of me, although, at that moment, not
a breath of air stirred the branches. I could make
nothing of it, until I enclosed the flickering spots in
my net. Only then did I see that they were four yellow

DADDY-LONG-LEGS MIMICKING MOSS

¢ 239 >

“4 TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Zéeuuu:

and white markings, one at the tip of each wing of a
large dragon-fly. In the dim light of the ravine, the rest
of the wings, transparent and colourless, and the long,

THE INVISIBLE DRAGON-FLY

attenuated body, were absolutely invisible, leaving to
the eye only four small golden spots, which would ordi-
narily be lost among the myriad dots of sunlight. For
an insect of its size (44 inches in spread of wings, and

ALONG THE STREAM OF DEATH

with a body 4 inches in length) the protection was the
most perfect I had ever seen. To photograph the dra-
gon-fly I had to pose it in the brightest sunlight, thus
giving no idea of the wonderful illusion which a deep
shadow produced — when the wings vanished, the body
became a slender twig, and only a single spot of yellow,
where the wings overlapped, told of its position; a hint
so intangible that it must be safe, even in this land of
keen-eyed, insect-eating birds, mammals, and reptiles.

The most wonderful
protective scheme of all
was shown in the Leaf
Butterflies ( Tagetis mer-
meria), Which were not
uncommon in the more
shady glades of the Stream
of Death. Again and
again we returned to
watch and wonder at
them; each time to find
some new adaptation,
each time to mistake them
at first glance for falling
leaves.

Each individual but-
terfly had a range of fif-

teen or twenty yards up
and down the dry, rocky A LEAF BUTTERFLY

G 241 >

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO éem:

bed, and day after day each might be found in its
particular haunt. Every insect was different from its
neighbour, noticeably so, even on the wing. Some
were much larger than others, some darker, some
strongly mottled with gray spots. This remarkable
variation seemed concomitant with the resemblance
to the variety of hues and mottlings which exist
among dead and withered leaves. When one of these
butterflies was in flight, one could not catch a glimpse
of the upper surface of its wings, so quickly were
they snapped together.

The sustaining power, gained by the momentum of
this instantaneous downward drop and momentary
opening of the wings, was expended in a visibly bal-
anced second of rest at the end of each flap, just as
a dead leaf shoots and eddies, slides and twists in its
fall to earth. Not only this, but when the insect took
to wing it shot almost straight upward, and instantly
attained the highest point of its flight. From here to
its place of alighting, its course was a gradual descent
— this living leaf unconsciously reflecting every detail
of the fall of the withered bits of vegetation. And
further, when the butterfly alighted, it was not with
a fluttering and a few moments of hovering, but as a
leaf comes to rest, so the inseet —a sudden drop to the
very ground, wings snapped together, and the appar-
ently dried, worm-eaten leaf leaned far over to one
side and swayed with every breath of air. Day after

€ 242 >

= ALONG THE STREAM OF DEATH ;:

day we saw the same performance, the little creatures
evading the sunlight, guiding their careless flight so
that its course followed the darkest ways. Setorita’s
corduroy walking-skirt was just the shade of some of
these golden brown butterflies, and many times their
flight ended upon the dress, their selection of it again
and again arguing, in their many-faceted eyes, an ac-
curate power of appreciation of the shades of colour.

THE HOME OF THE SOLITAIRE

We continued still farther between the contracting
walls of the arroyo. The great boulders, around and
under which we picked our way, were rounded and
worn smooth by the force of the great torrent which,
for six months of the year, surges over them. Now,
double lines of leaf-carrying ants passed dry-shod
across our path. In the finely ground sand-bed the
treacherous pits of the Philistine Ant-lons were hol-
lowed. Wasps plastered their tiny pellets of clay or
wood pulp against the rocks, where, in a few months,
a devastating tide would surge. The hungry fish in
the barranca streams below must fare sumptuously
after the first rains. We passed side tributaries, stream-
lets, arroyitos the Mexicans would say, and occasion-
ally, where a sharp turn ocewrred, the sheer walls
narrowed until we could span the gorge with our out-
stretched arms. Little vegetation grew here, for the
water swept the sides too clear of earth, and even far

oa mone DAS Ppovnnnan

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

sree

above our heads the volcanic rocks were scoured
smooth. Here the sunlight never entered, and black
lianas hung down from far overhead, twisting and
knotting around each other, where they touched, like
the Dantesque serpents of some frightful “ round” of
Purgatorio.

Wherever a ledge or a more gentle slope gave foot-
hold, luxuriant vegetation crowded it; gigantic Agaves,
or Century-plants, variegated with white, starred the
walls ; purple-leafed orchids, and now and then a dang-
ling tangle of Night-blooming Cereus, the spiny stems
looking like nothing so much as colonies of monstrous
hydras, tentacled and budding. Where the drip and
splash of ice-cold springs were heard, mosses and ferns
abounded, delicate maidenhair, with fronds two and
three feet in length, forming arrowheads of filmiest
green against the black moist cliffs. Saxifrage (ety-
mologically, if not botanically) lit up the glades with
myriads of white stars, filling the whole air with
sweetest fragrance.

In such a setting we found that most exquisite of
birds —the Painted Redstart —in abundance. Not
a chirp or warble did they utter, but dashed silently to
and fro, flaming out in the dark ravines — visions of
black, scarlet, and white.

Not a sound broke the silence, save the gentle tinkle
of water falling upon water. Without warning, from
the green depths at one side, there came several notes,

wrung DAA Sonn

creaky and harsh in tone, and suddenly these seemed
to melt and run together into a volume of marvellous
sweetness. The plaintiveness of the pewee, the tinkle
and gurgle of the bobolink, the rich liquidness of the
wood thrush ; all these characterized it, but it dif-
fered from all, excelling the songs of all other birds in
depth of feeling and sweetness. It was the mystery
and beauty of these tropical ravines embodied in song.
Such was the song of the Solitaire, one of the marvels
of Mexico, for which we had hoped. It came and died
away before we realized what we had heard. Breath-
less, we strained our ears and soon the first low creak-
ing notes separated themselves from the tinkling of
the falling water, and again they merged into the
grand ensemble of musical tones. Solitaire he seemed
in reality as well as in name, but soon, from the next
turn in the arroyo, came an echoing sweetness and at
last, fainter, as froma great distance, a third took up
the incomparable theme.

It was a song impossible to describe —a gradually
ascending strain of interlacing, silvery notes, the tink-
ling melody rising,
vessel filling with water. We lay on our backs and

as rises the sound of a crystal

searched the shadows overhead, but to no purpose.
Suddenly the melody broke out straight above us and
there, in a tangle of lianas, perched the Solitaire. His
head and body were firm and steady and only a tremb-
ling of the throat revealed the source of the song. In

wvannnee DAG Porrnnn

no other bird is an equal volume of sound produced
with so little effort. The compensating law of Nature
allots to this matchless singer a simple Quaker garb of
brownish gray. He made us think of a catbird with
a ring of white about the eye.

While we listened to the Ji/guero (Heelgdro), as the
Mexicans call him, all other songs that we had ever
heard seemed insignificant. The melody of the bird
seemed born of the rustling winds and the murmuring
waters. Now and then he plucked a small berry from
a twig near him, but his song grew no less clear, as he
uttered it again and again. When the last berry was
gone, as suddenly as he had appeared, the Solitaire flew
straight back into the depths of his secluded home.

TROPICS AND PINES

In another place, where the arroyo again shallowed
and widened, the rank vegetation grew down to the
very brink of the phantom waters. Birds and other
creatures had concentrated here, where feathery tufts of
bamboo, and trees bearing a fruit like small oranges,
were scattered among countless varieties of bushes,
vines, and trees, nameless to us. An ever-to-be-remem-
bered five minutes came to us, when the very flood-
gates of life were opened. From our rocky seat, Senor-
ita and I marvelled at the sudden abundance of living
creatures, appearing and passing so quickly that only
the stenography of the mind could note them at the

eG 246 >

7; ALONG THE STREAM OF DEATH %

moment. An Iguana, black as night, shuffled along
a narrow ledge of rock, fifty feet above us, and scram-
bled into its hole, flicking off a pebble with the last
wriggle of its disappearing tail. The pebble came
bounding toward us and fell with a clatter at our feet.
In its descent it started a pair of Painted Redstarts,
which flew away with silvery chirps, and a Pileolated
Warbler and a Xanthus Ground Sparrow dashed away
down the arroyo, dodging swiftly among the trees.
Two diminutive Sinaloa Ladder-backed Woodpeckers
made a great clatter near by, one drumming on a dry
resonant tree-trunk, and its mate tapping a swaying
rattle-seeded bush. A Pitangua Tyrant flew over, and,
looking down, screamed its hoarse tear-r-r / at us. And
now events followed one another even more quickly.
A large-winged white butterfly, twice splashed with
yellow, floated past, and a hitherto unnoticed Solitaire
darted at him, almost in our faces. The bird missed
its aim and was instantly pursued by a splendid Cop-
per-tailed Trogon, all brown, rose, white, and black.
Both birds dashed about, in swift flight, for a few
minutes; then the former disappeared and the Solitaire,
alighting about ten feet away, burst into his song,
sweet and measured, with no hint of breathlessness.
Before he had half finished, eleven great macaws
whistled low through the branches, almost fanning our
faces with their wings, all uttering the harshest of
shrieks when they suddenly perceived us. During all

ef 247 >

# TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

this din, the liquid, chain-like melody of the Solitaire
held true, cutting through the macaws’ terrific cries
hke a shaft of clear light through the darkness. Two
bird voices more antithetical probably do not exist,
and the birds themselves present as strong a contrast,
— the gray thrush with its delicate bill opened ever
so little, and the gaudy green macaws, scarlet fronted,
with huge yellow mandibles wide agape!

All passed in a moment, but our glance remained
upward, and far up, across the narrow strip of blue sky
which roofed the arroyo, two vultures and a Caracara
Eagle passed in thei circling flight. A Black Hawk,
which had been perched in a niche of the cliff, now
took to wing with an echoing cry; a White-fronted
Dove whirred past our resting-place; and a velvety
Heliconia butterfly waved its way slowly up the defile.
Then a great peace settled over the little shut-in bit of
world, and for many minutes we sat there, marvelling
upon the beauty and wonder of it all.

Far up in these isolated defiles we found that the
trogons spent their days, while at night, as we had
seen, they came to the river to drink, and roosted not
far from its waters. The habits of the White-fronted
Doves were almost the reverse of this, as we suspected
when we noticed the flocks passing at evening up into
the lower arroyo.

As we made our way up the arroyo, we were hardly
conscious of the gradual ascent, but a steep climb to the

top of one wall showed that the pine forests of the vol-
cano’s slope were close at hand, and that we were many
hundred feet above our camp at the level of the bar-

THE PINES OF COLIMA

ranca river. Soon the openings to the sky were framed
in long, graceful pine-needles, and when the stream-bed
became too narrow for comfortable walking, we took
to the woods at the higher level. The transition zone
was uninteresting and seemed to offer attractions to but

at reife QAQ Soon

unig TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO ##ssu

few creatures, but when the dense pine forest replaced
all more tropical growths, the sudden change in the
character of the fauna and flora was remarkable, and
trusting only to our ears, we might have believed our-
selves at home in the North in early spring.

An hour ago and we were in the tropics, among
trogons and macaws; here the notes of bluebirds
came to us, and we found that it was the very same
bird as that of our Northern orchards. A faint gold-
finch-lke note had some unfamiliar quality, and its
author, though goldfinch-like in actions and flight, was
a black-headed, green-bodied little bird, which we must
call the Forrer Siskin. Bob-White! rang clear and bold
through the pines, though the birds would not allow
us to approach them. There were many species of birds
keeping to the very tops of the tallest trees, which were
so wary that we found it impossible to identify them.
Audubon Warblers were abundant, and here they were
in full spring plumage, while those at lower levels,
which we saw daily about our camp, were still clad in
their dull winter dress.

But this forest of long-leaved pines was too near the
tropics to be entirely boreal in its nature, and the Thick-
billed Parrot, the only species of its order which finds
its way across the Rio Grande into the southwestern
part of our own country, was here tame and abundant
among the coniferous trees. It is either a very stupid
bird or controlled by its curiosity, for the flocks fol-

ef 250 %

THICK-BILLED PARROT

lowed us everywhere as we made our way over the
slippery ground. The fatigue of walking among these
pines was very great. The ground was carpeted with
the smooth, slippery needles, and everything, the trunks
of the trees, the needles, and soon our clothes and
camera were thickly coated with the white ashes falling
from the active volcano, whose dense outpourings of
white smoke were visible above the trees ahead.

$ 251%

: TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

SUNSET AND MOONLIGHT

The afternoon was quickly passing, and we hastened
to turn our steps toward camp. We returned by a
shorter route, cutting off the great bend made by the
arroyo, and passing through a small village where a
few Mexicans dragged out their lives in this isolated
region. Poverty-stricken and ignorant, they were yet
hospitable and kind. Their little ’"dobe chapel (for they
were too poor to have a church) was ornamented with
tattered and dirty ribbons, which were once bright-col-
oured, and with begrimed and faded bits of tinsel. As
we approached, a crowd of about fifty people, the entire
population of the village, were gathered before the
chapel, singing a wild but not unmusical chant, which
might well have been derived from some heathen rites
of the aboriginal Indians. We found that it was a
fiesta — la fiesta grande! For had not the Virgin been
brought from some distant church to honour them by
a visit! The men had carefully carried the life-sized
wooden image upright on a platform, mile after mile,
up and down the rugged barrancus and over the hot
plains; and eight men had taken turns at transporting
a pitiful little worn-out organ, wherewith to accompany
the chants to the Virgin. And now they were as happy
as children, worshipping and praying, and beginning
to feel the first effects of the pu/que — the drink which
plays so prominent a part in all their fiestas. We re-
fused the unpleasant national beverage, but indulged

o¢ 252 >

in some delicious nieve con lemon, —an attempt at ice-
cream, —made from the snow which some patient
hombre had carried on his back all the way from the
distant crater of the snow voleano. Followed by the
chorus of “Muchas gracias, Senor; Adios, Senor-
ita,’ which a few silver coins aroused, we left them,
and the weird rhythmical chant once more rose and
fell on the evening air.

Descending again to the bottom of the arroyo, for
fear of losing our way on the monotonous, pathless
plain, we were plunged for a time into almost complete
darkness. After the brief tropical twilight the sun was
blotted out with strange abruptness, but a beautiful
moon soon shone upon our path and our eyes adjusted
themselves to the strange, soft light.

Many of the small flowers were now tight closed in
apparent sleep, but the most beautiful blossoms of all
opened almost before our eyes. While yet some dis-
tance away, the graceful, tapering petals of the Night-
blooming Cereus shone out fair and beautiful in the
moonlight. The out-curving petals expand four or five
inches across, surrounding a multitude of thread-like
stamens, which spring, rank upon rank, from the
centre, delicately graduated inward, so that the long
pistil is the focus of a thousand yellow pollen-heads,
which rise, amphitheatre-like, around it. These flowers
grow on stalks six or eight inches in length, and yet
the ovary is at the very base, and the stalk is a hollow

snore QHZ Borrrnnes

tube, within which is the slender white style. Only for
a single night do these beautiful flowers open, and
what is a tightly closed bud at dusk may be a full-
blown blossom an hour later. By watching carefully,
we plainly detect the motion of the expanding petals.

The delicious perfume from a cereus flower can be
detected many yards away, even by our dull senses,
and it must, indeed, be a potent summons to the keen-
sensed hawk-moths and other insects upon which this
flower depends for fertilization during its brief season
of perfection.

Strange sounds come to us upon our moonlight
walk ; mice scurry from our path, a flying-squirrel, or
some small furry creature of great leaping power,
passes through the air. Throughout a quarter of a mile
of our course a sound reaches us, almost continuous in
its mysterious rhythm; a noise as of a mallet striking
on wood — thump-thump ! thump-thump ! Whether
from bird or beast, it will ever be to us an unsolved
voice of the night.

As the hours pass, the tension of the silence and
the dimness becomes greater; every sense is quickened
and alert, not a rustle of the dry underbrush or a swish
of wings overhead escapes us. Some creature coughs —
a sudden painful choking sound, and we start, as if it
were a gun-shot. The feeling that a myriad of watch-
ful eyes are upon us is irresistible. They seem to peer
out from each hole and cavern — eyes more keen than

ours. We leave the arroyo and climb up a steep ledge,
which will cut off a half-mile of winding stream-bed.
A single dead mesquite crowns the narrow summit,
and on its topmost branch a full-plumaged Caracara
Eagle sits erect and watchful, his outline silvered by
the clear moonlight. He seems not to notice us as we
pass beneath.

Pausing a moment, on the narrow summit of the
dividing cliff, we watch the dull glow above the crater
of the volcano. It is quiet now, after a few days of
more than usual activity. Its lurid reflection is the
wildest touch in this landscape of black chasms and
shadowless plains. A strange cry comes from some
bird of the night high overhead, and as we are about
to resume our way, a muffled sound comes from the
great barranca far to our left, — a sonorous growling
roar which rises to a scream, — cut short off. It has
been described to us by some American miners, and
now we know it instantly for the ery of the jaguar, a
sound new to us and setting every nerve a-quiver with
love of the wilderness, — a love which, after all, is but

> with the veneer of our civil-

slightly “ sicklied o’er’
ization. Few of us are without this feeling.
Descending on the other side into the arroyo again,
we leave the silent Caracara still motionless, keeping
his midnight vigil. As we brush through a dense line
of bamboos and willows, we startle a Canyon Wren.
It flutters away, and in its excitement breaks into

& 255 %

silvery song. The boulders are less frequent now and
the velvety, yielding sand strews our path with silence.
Something crackles and pushes through the bushes
ahead of us and we stop motionless. Two Mexican
Deer walk down the steep slope and then turn river-
ward. Some instinct, born of their alert, wild life,
impels them to turn and look at us, and there we stand,
almost afraid to breathe, lest we startle them. Our
hearts seem to beat audibly, our pulses to click. The
deer stand as if cut in stone, twitching not a muscle.
All their being is straining through those four large
eyes — those quivering nostrils. Is it life or death
which they see ?

The strain becomes unbearable and we step forward.
Hight tendons snap, and lift the deer high in air.
Two white tails shine out, and leaping from ledge to
ledge, the two animals go up the hillside, sailing
smoothly, swiftly, among bush and crag, until they
vanish in the dimness of the larger growth.

Armadillos scurry heavily, like little overladen tug-
boats, across the river of sand, and more than once a
fox drifts noiselessly into its hole. We pass the tangle
of white seed-fluffs where we know the trogons are
roosting, and, turning down the last bend of the arroyo,
come into full view of our tents, shining in the moon-
light.

Stronger than ever there comes to us the love of all
the wildness which receives and shelters us so kindly.

- ALONG THE STREAM OF DEATH 3%

The tent in the little shelf of the cliff which we call
home is open to receive us. We sleep, to dream of cool
pines and the warble of bluebirds. We wake, to hear
the scream of a macaw and the song of a humming-
bird’s wings.

WESTERN MOCKINGBIRD SINGING

CHAPTER XII

THE TROPICS

INDING our semi-tropical camping-place
3} so delightful, cool at night, and during
the heat of the day tempered by refresh-
ing breezes, we were encouraged to push
on to the very heart of the tropical Pacific lowlands.

A day of packing; a week’s return to Guadalajara
for fresh provisions and more photographic plates;
a return to Tuxpan; the right of way of a freight
train contested by several misguided burros ; a delay
of five hours in an alkali desert, while the track and
freight train are restored to their normal relative posi-
tions; a three o’clock breakfast by starlight in the
patio of the Hotel Central — and we were off on our
long ride.

At this early hour the air was vital with life-giving
power. Our horses bucked from sheer exuberant energy
and we gave them rein and galloped like the wind,
through the long, narrow, earth-paven streets and out
upon the plain: world-wide it seemed in the soft glow
of the stars. Is there a more delightful sensation in
the world than to feel a strong horse beneath you,
moving with great four-footed leaps, while you, poised,

kA
Ky)
[SX

steady, guide him with a touch? A Centaur had in-
deed compensations for his grotesqueness !

As we reached the outskirts of the village, we
glanced back, and there, balanced in the vista of the

TUXPAN IN EARLY MORNING

narrow street, was a burning, brilliant crescent moon,
magnified in size by its low position. The old cathe-
dral was warmed by its light and the tile-edges and
adobe walls of each home were silvered.

When fairly on the trail we rode slowly, passing

é 259 >

wa TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

Net
eet

our former camping-places and resting during the heat
of the day. By twilight we made Tonila, the halfway
village, nestling at the very foot of the mountain of
fire. The usual fiesta was in full swing, for which we
were glad, as it ensured an abundance of snow ice-
cream. This we enjoyed all the more when we learned
that the snow was brought by Mexicans in sacks from
the lofty frozen summit of the fire mountain’s dead
sister peak.

The little plaza was a weird sight that night. The
wide-open doors of the dim church revealed the
figures of kneeling women and children. Outside, the
flickering light of a multitude of bark-torches flared
unsteadily, throwing lights and shadows among the
crowd of Mexicans. Now and then an unearthly glow
fell upon all and then died out —the eternal torch
of the overhanging voleano. The Mexicans bought
pulque and dulces and listened to the pitiful little
band. Once, at a more flourishing period in the an-
nals of Tonila, the natives had erected an elaborate
and gaudy band-stand, which was now falling into
ruin. Though their numbers had lessened and their
pesos dwindled to an all-pervading poverty, yet their
love of music was no whit less. In the centre of the
dilapidated platform stood a lonesome little group of
four. On the floor was a low box. On its centre a
candle. On each side of the dim light was a piece of
tattered music. With two worn-out violins, a guitar,

¢ 260 >

se THE TROPICS Stam:

and a cornet, the performers were interpreting a bit
of grand opera. They bent painfully over the low
box, and when a gust of wind snuffed the candle, the
music ceased for a moment, to be taken up at the
same note when the taper was relighted. With miser-
able instruments and with no leader, they yet kept
perfect time, and hardly a note was flatted. The
rapt attention of the crowds of Mexicans and their
enthusiastic applause were hearty incentives to the
musicians to do their best.

Before daylight we were up and mounted again,
feeling our way down steep barrancas and splashing
through ice-cold streams. Suddenly a warm glow of
light flooded us, and, glancing up, we saw that the
sun had lighted up the gray-white, lava-covered slopes
of Colima, which reflected the glory to us, deep in the
twilight of a narrow gorge. At the magic touch of
this light the spell of silence was broken, as sleep re-
leased a great host of living creatures. Macaws, her-
alded by their harsh cries, passed over from their roost
in the piney depths of the mountain. The chorus of
Canyon Wrens rang out, and an oriole stirred the
echoes with a liquid whew-whew-whew-o! A certain
species of wild fig, a very characteristic and notice-
able tree in this portion of Mexico, grows upon the
sheer, rocky walls of the barrancas. It has a hard,
smooth bark, yellowish white in colour, and its roots,
which are of necessity exposed to the air, are also cov-

é 261 3

# TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Zt

ered with bark of similar colour and texture. Instead
of the trunk ending suddenly at the base and ramify-
ing into a mass of radiating roots, the main stem grad-
ually divides into these structures, which wind and
twist, like so many snakes, about the crevices of the
cliff, often reaching downward in total length many
times the height of the tree itself. At the bottom
of the canyon they enter the ground and lose their
yellow covering.

Whenever birds, insects, and flowers were absent from
the trail and the voleanos were temporarily hidden from
sight, we could always occupy ourselves with the study
of pack-mule psychology. And there was never lack of
interesting material. Verily some of these sure-footed,
long-eared beasts of burden seemed to be endowed with
human intelligence, and that too of an order highly
developed through knowledge of much wickedness! One
vicious beast had a trick of slyly rubbing up against
our riding-animals, choosing a time when the trail
narrowed and deepened, thus bruising our bodies most
unmercifully. When urged on faster than they liked,
they would carelessly and with sleepy eyes edge up to
us and nip our ankles sharply. But the remarkable
exhibition of intelligence, to which I have alluded, was
shown in the ingenious ways in which they sought to
ease or relieve themselves of their loads. One large
black mule, aptly named Diablo, was a stubborn brute
and would take any amount of punishment without

3 >
€ 262 >

i THE TROPICS ‘em:

accelerating his pace in the smallest degree. Then,
without warning, he would start out on a run which
soon left the rest of the pack-train far behind. In
fifteen or twenty minutes we would come in sight of
him, comfortably resting on his back in the middle of
the trail, his legs sprawling in mid-air while he took his
brief siesta reposing on our clothing-bags. We soon
learned that photographic plates and other breakables
must not be intrusted to him. He well knew that his load
must be taken off and readjusted before he could rise.
This philosophic problem of gaining a momentary rest
was solved by two other animals by sitting down with
their loads! Whenever a low ledge of rock bounded
the trail they would back up to it, crouch down upon
their haunches like dogs and rest the edge of the packs
on the ledge, looking most comical as they sat there,
gazing about with their huge ears bobbing back and
forth.

As a rule, these strong animals are good steady
workers. When one stops and absolutely refuses to
budge, the Mexicans immediately unload it, for this is
a sure sign that something is wrong with the pack.
Nothing will induce the animal to move until his load
is made right.

The most wonderful characteristic of these mules is
their ability to survive accidents and falls which would
break every bone in the body of an ordinary horse.
An animal is sometimes overbalanced by its pack, and

vnmnmnee 263. Sonnmnnn

4 TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Hess:

stumbling on the edge of a slope, it rolls many yards
over and over or even head over tail down sheer slopes.
After such an occurrence, when I would expect to
gather up my belongings from a mass of mangled
mule-flesh, I would instead find the creature perhaps
astride of a tree which had broken its fall, or huddled,
bruised, but otherwise uninjured, on the next turn of
the trail below. When such an accident occurs, the
animal seems to gather its head and legs close to its
body and, hunching its back, rolls harmlessly on until
something stops it.

More than once I have seen a mule, laden with
cocoanuts or sugar, deliberately kneel and slide or roll
swiftly down to the next bend in the trail. We should
never have believed, if we had not seen it, that animals
could survive some of the experiences which befell
these mules. In fact they have a remarkable faculty
for getting into scrapes which end in a short relief for
them, and for getting out of others which do not
terminate thus happily for them.

All day we rode on, always downward and curving
gradually around the twin volcanos. They were lode-
stones which forever drew our eyes. The black pine
forest on the shoulders of the fire mountain kept its
denseness and its dark hue to the gray higher slopes of
deadly heat. Here and there, wide paths were cut deep
down among the pines, where the hot outpourings had
seared and shrivelled everything before them.

€ 264

The sister peak presented a very different appear-
ance. Its pine forest was as black and dense as that of
the other volcano, but at the higher elevations the
black faded to dark gray, this to lighter, where the
shrubs and dwarfed growths gave place to moss and
barren rocks, and above all rested the gleaming cap of
snow.

As we rode on, hour after hour, the aspect of the
two peaks constantly changed, and as we looked up
from time to time, it seemed as if we were encircling
many mountains instead of one. That night found us
at the city of Colima, with the voleano at our backs.

Next morning a little engine drew us along the
narrow-gauge track toward Manzanillo and the Pacific.
The mountains were left behind and we were in the
lowlands bordering the coast. We passed plantations of
coffee and rice and thick jungles of trees, unnameable
tous. Our bags and tents were unloaded at a forlorn lit-
tle station with the euphonious name of Coquimatlan.

In choosing our destination we had trusted to luck,
and had selected the wildest country of which we could
learn, taking a letter of introduction to the owner of
a small isolated hacienda.

The train went on and left us. The natives drew
near, and we mounted guard over our baggage and
began to palaver for information and for mules. The
latter would not be forthcoming until late afternoon,
and information was extracted painfully and unsatis-

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO it

factorily. The average Mexican is willing to tell what
he knows, but this is almost nil concerning the coun-
try, even about his own home, while five miles away is
to him a terra incognita.

When we were almost in despair as to which direc-
tion to turn, Providence sent along a hand-car, which
we flagged. After a little tactful display of red-sealed
official papers, we obtained permission to take our guns
and cameras and board the little platform. Our Mexi-
can was to follow later with the baggage. All was down
grade and we gradually attaimed a momentum which
made us gasp for breath. On and on we went, whiz-
zing around sharp curves and bumping over the uneven
rails. The adobe huts soon disappeared and the wilder-
ness crept up to the very edge of the track. Once we
dashed straight through a covey of Scaled Quail which
rose from the track, the birds not having time to fly
to one side.

At last the brake was applied and we came to a stop
near a narrow opening in the jungle. Leaving a signal
guide for our Mexican, we set out on foot. For two
miles we followed this trail which ended at an isolated
hacienda.

A TROPICAL CAMP

The letters of introduction which we carried opened
the heart of the overseer and his family, and his
disappointment was sincere when he learned that we

“ THE TROPICS

OUR TROPICAL CAMP

did not desire to share his home and board during
our stay.

These Mexicans of the middle class have some edu-
cation and they are most kind and hospitable, but we
could not enjoy life on a diet of tortillas and frioles,
nor could we become accustomed to that familiarity
with domestic animals, which is their custom. Hens
begging for crumbs leaped fearlessly upon one’s lap
or upon the dinner-table, little chickens swarmed over
one’s person, while pigs, dogs, puppies, and cats were
omnipresent, — surrounded, fondled, and trod under

€ 267 >

4 TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

foot by innumerable very small and very dirty little
Mexicans, almost as unhampered by clothes as their
furred and feathered playfellows.

We were glad, however, to accept the shelter of the
great bare guest-house, for the first night. Our Mex-
ican cook rolled up in his blanket on the porch outside,
but the hosts of fleas drove him to the dining-table,
which was also on the porch. Here he alternately
dozed and did battle with a rooster, which persisted
in perching upon and crowing from the head of the
unfortunate youth. Indoors our cots kept us out of
trouble, but a vampire annoyed us for an hour or two,
fluttering close to our heads and making sleep im-
possible. The horses next morning showed evidence
of visits from these bloodthirsty bats — long streaks of
blood on their necks and shoulders.

A thorough search of the neighbourhood, on horse-
back, revealed, about a mile away from the house,
an open glade which was some twenty yards from
a stream. Here we decided to make camp. We could
not refuse our friend’s offer of assistance, and, under
the strong hands of a half-dozen sturdy Mexicans and
Indians, our tents were unrolled and set up, the camp
site cleared and a barrier of thorns erected, all as if by
magic. Milk and melon zapotes —a delicious melon-
like fruit which grew at the top of a tree — were pro-

mised, and our opinion of the middle-class Mexican
character rose another notch.

Sy
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& THE TROPICS

One of the Mexicans said that he hoped we were
good Catholics, because of that— pointing to the top
of the cliff above our camp. I saw nothing but a huge
projecting stone. He was astonished that my senses
were so dull, and explained that the Virgin was there ;
and we found that this legend was implicitly believed.
Some heretics, so the story goes, once passed through
this country, and here the Virgin appeared, the vision
instantly converting them. Her image remained in
semblance of stone— to Mexican eyes. Our Mexican
friend shook his head when he found that we were not
Roman Catholies, and day after day we were urged to
move, lest, because of our unbelief, a terrible fate over-
take us; but we insisted on remaining and claiming
the Virgin’s protection, and she did not betray us.

Twilight seemed even shorter here than in the
higher altitudes, and we slept too soundly to notice
what hints of the tropical life reached our tent that
first night.

Our walk to the stream in the early morning led
through a little green vale, arched over with dense
fohage. The great wide-stretching limbs of trees were
all corded together and draped with thick, knotty lianas,
which stretched to the ground, or swung clear in great
loops — trapezes, swings, and slack-ropes ready for
parrot or monkey. Feathery-headed palms reached
high above all, their long, straight columns, clean and

foe

smooth, piercing the roof of vegetation high overhead.
+ 269 >

uuueée. TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Zeman

At the end of the glade a cold spring trickled from
an orchid-padded wall, and not thirty feet away, a flow
of tepid water, rich in minerals, had worn a little clear
path for itself, some property of its composition being
inimical to vegetable growth. Just beyond the two
springs, a deep pool of the crystal water nestled at the
foot of a gigantic wild fig, whose branches reached
out a hundred feet in all directions.

The stream flowed on in a most erratic course, twist-
ing and winding until, in following it, one lost all idea
of the points of the compass. Its banks occasionally
widened out into lawn-like stretches, or dense ferns
and reeds restricted its course to a deep narrow chan-
nel. A short distance away from the stream, the effects
of the long rainless season were very evident in the
lack of green verdure and the intrusion of thorny
acacias and pulpy cacti.

We were about twenty miles from the Pacific Ocean,
over four degrees south of the Tropic of Cancer, and
but a few hundred feet above sea-level. Our camp was
at the very base of a steep cliff, while to the west the
jungle thinned out to low, open bush. To the south
and southwest wound the stream, while the north
framed the ever more wonderful voleano. Amid such
surroundings we began our camp-life in the tropics.

NOCTURNAL VISITORS

The nights were full of interest and almost every

THE TROPICS ;

time we rolled up in our blankets for the night, some
new creature came to investigate the strange white
things which were so tantalizing to the curiosity of the

THE GIANT FIG-TREE

wild kindred. The sound of even the lightest breath
of wind, sifting through the finely divided leaves of
the mimosas and palm fronds, was as different as pos-
sible from the sighing of pines or the rustle of ordin-
ary foliage. It was a soothing, softly sighing sound,
which will ever be the background in our memory
of tropical voices. The foxes of this region were no
ghosts, but given to frequent sharp barking and silent,
nervous scurrying up and down our little glade.

6271 }

Hardly were we settled for the night, when a low,
distant moaning drew us outdoors, just in time to hear
the full chorus of a band of coyotes, the lonesomest
sound — save the ery of a loon—in the world. The
coyote is a cowardly, sneaking wild dog, afraid to face
any creature of size, but nevertheless the coyote has a
voice which sends the shivers up and down one’s spine.
Out at the end of the open glade we spied several dusky
forms against the sky-line, and from one of these arose
a long-drawn, hopeless howl. Then the others joimed
in and the sounds quickened and shortened and rose in
chorus, until the air was rent with a frantic climax of
yaps, each animal striving to outdo the others. The
result was demoniacal, and yet in perfect keeping with
the wild surroundings.

Every evening about six o’clock (never varying more
than five minutes either way) a horde of tiny bats
rained down upon our camp, but whence they came
we could never discover. Six or seven hundred, as if
at a given signal, poured out of the dusk and dashed
low through the tangle of vines past the tents. Our
faces were fanned continuously by their wings, yet
never did they strike, or even graze, any object. So
thick were they that every sweep of the butterfly-
net enclosed one or more. Is there any living creature
with a more grotesque and fiendish expression than a
bat! Their immense, many-lobed ears, the curious
leaves of skin on the nose and cheeks, the tiny, evil

somnnrge QTQ Porvreree

¢ THE TROPICS eu:

eyes, and the cruel, grinning mouth, with its many
sharp-pointed teeth, which gnash in impotent rage, as
one holds captive the diminutive imp! After all the
bats had passed and vanished, they would sweep back
again, finding our little glade a profitable hunting-
ground. A stone thrown up drew a score of the little
creatures in its wake, as they mistook it for some large
flying insect. After lingering with us for a short time,
the bats dispersed, flying, who knows where, into the
dark night.

Not far from the camp, well up on the hillside, was
asmall-mouthed crevice which opened into a large dark
cavern. This might have been the home of these bats,
but the air within was so foul that exploration was
impossible.

In the dim, flickering light, where the flare of our
cooking-fire melted into the all-surrounding darkness,
we sometimes saw strange dark creatures leaping and
running. Noiselessly they sped here and there, lke
wandering shadows. When we finally caught one, we
found them to be great hairy-legged spiders, forbid-
ding-looking and with jaws suggestive of the taran-
tula. We heeded them not and they never troubled
us, nor did the scorpions which we unearthed now and
then in the folds of our tent, both the common kind
and a small species of Whip Scorpion.

After the passing of the bats came an owl concert,
several gruff voices calling to each other from tree to

& 273 be

th

# TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

tree, though never a feather did they show to us.
Soon after dark the wild kindred of these tropical
jungles awakened and came forth from all the nests
and holes and crevices and hollows in which they
had slept out the day. Snug in our tents we listened
to the sharp squeaks of the vampires, following their
lesser brethren, but on more sanguinary quests. The
coyotes’ chorus rose and died away; the thin bark-
ing of the Gray Foxes followed, like an echo of the
coarser sound. Then the cordon of creatures drew
closer and closer around our camp. There were
always many stray bones and scraps which we left
scattered about on purpose, and the scent of these
reached, and unerringly directed, scores of keen little
moist muzzles.

How exciting it was to lie and listen quietly to the
soft pat! pat! of scurrying feet! We occasionally
crept to the tent-flap, or to some one of our little ob-
servation holes, to see how correctly our imagination
had interpreted the sounds. The quick crunching trot
of an armadillo was always easy to distinguish, but
that scuffing and scraping must surely be a fox or a
very large raccoon or perhaps even some larger, fiercer
creature! A glance outside showed the originator of
all this commotion to be the tiniest of white-breasted
Wood Mice! Again, when no sound was audible, a
stealthy look revealed a pair of exceedingly long-tailed
Mexican Opossums, ambling silently about near by.

THE TROPICS ;

What cowards they are! Once we caught a greedy
one in broad daylight, dragging away a heavy piece of
meat. As he caught sight of us, the meat dropped
from his jaws and he fell over in a dead faint, simulat-

MEXICAN OPOSSUM ‘‘PLAYING ’POSSUM”

ing a death spasm. I hastened to photograph him,
knowing the ways of an opossum too well to feel any
sympathy with his apparent agony. Then we hid and
watched. Gradually the glaze passed from his half-
closed eyes, he raised his head and cautiously stood
upright. Again and again he hungrily eyed the meat,
but at last some terror seized him, and he scampered
away to the jungle as fast as his flat-soled feet could
carry him.

sone QIT5 Porwrnue

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

Not only were we made aware of the presence of
many creatures about our camp at night by their
shadows, the sounds of their footsteps, and their voices,
but musky scents were wafted abroad, pungent and
penetrating, or delicate and barely perceptible. Twice
when a musky odour filled the air, I caught a glimpse
of a long, undulating, weasel-like creature.

One night a band of little carnivores were making
merry over the remains of some squirrels and doves
which had furnished our supper. Suddenly there was
an utter cessation of all sounds, and for a full minute
all was strangely quiet. Then a new sound came to
our ears. We had never heard anything like it, and
yet we shuddered. Why, we did not know, unless at
its mystery.

A soft slithering, as if something were scraping over
the coarse sand and pebbles past our tent. The moon
was bright, and I opened the tent-flap and looked out.
Not a living thing was in sight, not a sound save
an occasional click from a Barn Owl flying above on
silent wings. The strange noise grew louder, and soon
from the darkness a long, undulating form appeared.
A great Boa was making its way to the water. The
great creature was harmless, this we well knew, al-
though measuring fully ten feet in length; but the
sight of this huge serpent, unconscious of being
watched, passing slowly on some errand of its wild
life, through its native jungle, was thrilling. How

wun 7G Borer

THE TROPICS ;

keen must be the senses of the smaller creatures to
take alarm, so long before our dull hearing told of the
Boa’s approach! It passed, and, flowing smoothly as
a current of water, vanished in the pale moonlight.
How lithe and full of subtle, irresistible power it
seemed ; one of the masters of the jungle, confident
and unafraid! The Mexicans have an unreasoning
terror of these cu/abras, as they call them, attributing
to them all manner of terrible characteristics. With
the exception of some rattlers which we saw near the
Chapala marshes, and those which we heard while
riding over the trail, this was the only snake we en-
countered in Mexico. No, there was one other, a tiny,
slender, tree-snake (Oxybelis acuminatus), harmless,
and of a most delicate tint of green. When he was
discovered he was wrapped in deep slumber, the cause
of which, as I later found, was his recent dinner, con-
sisting of a good-sized lizard (Cnemidophorus).

The terrors of serpents, tropical insect scourges,
and other dangers of which we had been forewarned,
existed, so far as our experience went, entirely in the
minds of our friends in the North.

The night following the vision of the Boa, we were
surprised to hear some creature trot up to the very
tent, sniff audibly, and scratch impatiently at the can-
vas. It then proceeded to the other tent, some twenty
feet away, wherein were our provisions and our young
Mexican cook. One glance was enough to know why

6 277 >

; TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 2

this creature exceeded his fellows in boldness and
reckless audacity. There, endeavouring to find an
opening in the tent, was the largest skunk I had ever
seen. There was little time to consider what was the
best thing to do. The head of the animal was already
under the tightly pegged canvas. Calling to Ricardo
to retreat to the front end of the tent, I emptied both
barrels of the shotgun at the bundle of black and
white fur, which the moonlight revealed. Good for-
tune was with us, and the force of the discharge
hurled the dreaded creature down a declivity, and our
provision tent and cook were safe.

We later found that skunks were quite abundant,
but none so hungry, or so foolhardy, as this grand-
sire of the Mephitis. Among its fellow animals the
skunk reigns supreme, all giving way before its flaunt-
ing, conspicuous tail. As they trot about among the
dark fronds and vines, they are exquisite little crea-
tures in colour and in actions, but this is truly a case
where “ distance lends enchantment.”

Several times we heard in the distance the screams
of some one of the cat tribe. Just about dark, a few
days after making camp, as I was bringing an olla of
water from the spring, a large animal half scrambled,
half fell from the top of a sapling and scampered away
through the underbrush. The thought, “cat!” was
dismissed, when the clumsiness of the creature was
apparent, but it was not long before we became better

$278

meee’ THE TROPICS 3ieinu:

acquainted with a Coati Mondi, for such it proved to
be. It is a dark brown animal, some three feet in
length and coon-like in build, except for a remarkably
long snout and tail.

A colony of these Coatis lived among the rocks not
far from our camp, and every evening they started
out on their foraging expeditions. They did not join
their cousins the Raccoons and Ring-tailed Cats about
our tents. When they came out about dusk, they all
trooped down to the water’s edge and drank thirstily,
then washed their faces, coon-fashion, and combed
their handsome fur with their long claws. They ap-
peared to feed upon lizards and berries and they were
also very fond of a certain kind of hard, round fruit.
When four or five of them were among the branches
of a small sapling, the young tree suffered severely.
They hunted mice in the open spaces of the woods,
and I sometimes saw several crouched here and there,
ready for the first signs of life among the leaves.
With a dog they were easily treed, and they fought
fiercely when cornered. When playing and leaping
about each other, they uttered low harsh grunts, and
we never heard any other utterance. The Mexicans
delight to hunt these Coati Mondis, treeing them with
dogs, and killing them with revolvers. They work
themselves up to a high pitch of excitement, shout-
ing, as a kind of hunting-cry, “Adios Tejon!” — the
latter word being the Mexican name of the animal.

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munaés, TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 2

The Raccoons, the Ring-tailed Cats and the Coati
Mondis are all expert climbers, and the birds must
indeed be careful in selecting their nightly roosts. I
noticed that instead of choosing perches near the main
branches or trunks of the trees as is usual in the North,
they preferred the more slender twigs toward the top,
showing less fear of owls than of terrestrial enemies.
If near the ground, they chose some dense, thorny
tangle, impenetrable to even a hungry coon.

How perfectly the actions and the general mien of
these nocturnal creatures reflect the efficiency of their
means of defence! The life of the little mice, the prey
of all, is one great fear; they nibble, wash their fur,
scamper about, but ever with large, fearful eyes, ever
with feet braced to spring to the protection of their
holes. The opossums start at every sound and slink
tremblingly away. The Coatis make little show of
defence, but, when there is any avenue of escape, flee
quickly. The Ring-tailed Cats turn a moment and
bare their teeth in a defiant snarl, before taking to flight.
The armadillos potter serenely on their way, heeding
little to right or left, respectful of others’ rights, but
calmly confident in their tooth-and-claw-proof armour
of scales. The skunk alone dares to herald his pre-
sence with flourishing tail. No haste, no terror marks
his gait. He rolls along with an impudently noncha-
lant air, daring any to oppose his path. “Tam Skunk!”
reads his demeanour ; “I am small, slow of foot, and

é 280 >

THE TROPICS

of little strength. I have no armour, and my teeth and
claws are too weak to be feared, but—do not anger
me!” And all the creatures withdraw from his path.
If one be so bold as snarlingly to hold his ground,
an impatient stamp of the foot shows the rising wrath
of the black and white one, and, unopposed, he goes
on his way.

The hoarse cries of the omnipresent macaws awak-
ened us in the morning and flocks of the beautiful
lavender-feathered Amazon Parrots assembled at the
water to quench their thirst. They then returned to
chatter and clamber about the trees near by and
to crane their necks from side to side, utterly unable to
satisfy their curiosity concerning us.

The macaws were remarkably regular in their move-
ments. Early each morning a half-dozen passed over-
head to the westward and each evening the great birds
returned in pairs by the same route, and perched for
several minutes on a particular dead limb, some distance
up the cliff. There they conversed in low gutturals
and preened each other’s plumage, before passing on
to their nightly roost. Half-past five o’clock, almost to
the minute, saw them on this perch. We could predict
to within a few minutes their appearance around the
farthest turn of the cliff. These great birds are called
guacamayo by the Mexicans, who believe that they
never descend to the ground, except in the month of
May, and then only to feed on a certain kind of hard

é 281 3

; TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO %

nut. Certain it was that much of their food consisted
of nuts which had a rind like stone itself, but which
their powerful mandibles crushed with ease.

The most abundant birds in this locality were the
beautiful yellow and black Mexican Caciques, great
tropical orioles, which are so characteristic a feature
of equatorial countries. As in the virile warmth of
Mexico many things are carried to an extreme, which,
in the North, are developed but moderately, so with
the nest of the orioles. Our Baltimore Oriole builds a
jong, shapely purse, deep-cradled and elm-swung, where
its eggs and young are exposed to but few dangers. It
is said that in the south of the United States, owing
to the increase of heat, the nests are shallower, more
vireo-like. Yet in the tropical heat of Mexico, the
nests of the orioles are three and four feet in depth,
hung from the tips of branches and waving in every
breath of air. They are finely woven of reeds, open-
meshed, but tough and difficult to tear. A small
entrance at the top leads down through the long, narrow
neck to the globular nest-chamber at the bottom.

The morning flight of these ca/andrias, as the
Mexicans call them, was one of the delights of our
camp-life. Jet-black birds they were, long crested, with
brilliant yellow shoulders, lower back, and tail, save the
two inner feathers. The ivory-like beaks were long
and needle-like, as such a master weaver’s should be.
They came from the northward, as if the bats of the

© THE TROPICS 3

night before had been transformed by some witch-
ery of the morning sun, and were returning in this
guise. Hundreds of the yellow and black forms flashed
through the trees, flock after flock of fifty or more,

f

MEXICAN CACIQUE

spreading through all the woods in smaller companies
to feed. As they passed, their wings made a strange,

; TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO Z¥euu:

whip-like, humming sound, which rose to a continuous
murmur when a large number flew past at once.

As the days passed and we still camped, unharmed,
in the presence of the Virgin’s image on the cliff, the
poor Mexicans, who came with eggs or vegetables for
sale, began to hold us in high esteem. My small
medicine-chest and bottles of formaline aroused still
greater respect and I found, to my surprise, that I had
gained the reputation of being an infallible physician.
It was pitiful to see the faith with which the poor
Mexicans and Indians brought their sick children, or
told me of their own troubles. I vowed that I knew little
or nothing of therapeutics, and that I had only the simp-
lest of remedies with me. But they shook their heads
sadly and added a few centavos to the pittance which
they had offered me, not believing my assertion that I
did not want pay. These poor people had no idea of
hygiene or of the curative properties of pure water. I
did what I could with listerine and dioxide of hydrogen.

There is a wide field for missionary work in this
country, but a car-load of antiseptics and the doctrine
of cleanliness should precede it. We, of the North, have
not the slightest idea of the misery resulting from the
ignorance of these people. One bright young fellow
whom I tried to cure was literally dying of dirt. When
taken sick the only treatment which his family advised
was complete abstinence from the use of water! His
food, in the hottest of weather, was fried beans, pork,

and tortillas. Indeed, the staple food of the people
the whole year round is frijoles (fried beans), and
tortillas — hard, flat, leathery cakes made of ground
corn and water.

POD OF MILK-WEED TREE

The nights in this tropical country were cool and re-
freshing. For an hour in the early morning there was
no wind and the black flies drove us into our head-
screens. With the sun came a breeze and the flies van-
ished as if by magic. The heat increased until mid-
day, although even then one could walk slowly about

& 285

wa, TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 2

in the sun without feeling oppressed. But the birds
and beasts set us a good example and we found it a
good plan to sit quietly in the shade, writing or
examining our specimens until about two o’clock. At
five in the afternoon the black flies again appeared and
held high revel for one hour, when the coming of the
bats dispelled them.

Six times we had excellent opportunities of observ-
ing the great Guatemalan Woodpecker, with the beau-
tiful scarlet head and crest flashing through the trees.
No matter how much is given to a naturalist to enjoy,
there is always something else for which he yearns.
There were three things — all possible but improbable
in this portion of Mexico — for which we were ever on
the lookout —the grandest of all birds, the Harpy
Eagle; the most magnificent of woodpeckers, the
Imperial; and some stray monkeys which might have
wandered so far north (they range still farther up on
the eastern side of the country). But these things were
withheld from us until another time.

Everywhere through the underbrush scampered large
squirrels with thick coats of grizzled fur (Sciwrus
poliopus cervicalis), while with them was a lesser num-
ber of squirrel-like Spermophiles (Citedlus annulatus),
handsomely marked with gray above and bright rufous
below. Both species live in burrows in the ground
or in crevices of the cliff, near which our camp was
pitched. There were literally hundreds of these frisky

eG 286 >

sung THE TROPICS 3%

little rodents within a few hundred yards of our camp,
and they were so tame that they would not move more

than a few feet out of our way.

They kept mostly on the ground, but occasionally

a dozen would rush up a tree near camp and show that

they had lost little acrobatic skill for all their usual

terrestrial life. This particular tree was bare of leaves

and fruit, save for one large oval pod. I climbed up

one day and cut this off. It split open in my hand —

a wooden pod or box filled
with great, delicately tufted
seeds, much larger, and with
even more filmy plumes than
our common milk-weed. In-
deed I found that it was really
a form of arboreal milk-weed
(Calotropis procera), not a
native of Mexico, although
growing here in some abun-
dance, but imported by some
accident from Asia.

We often saw what we
thought was a species of wild
cotton, with good-sized bolls ;
but a closer investigation re-
vealed the fact that the cotton
was really a parasitic out-
growth from the under side

aevvunvcen

THE COTTON GALL

sum TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

of the leaves—a curious kind of gall caused by the
ovipositor of some insect.

Certain charming little birds occasionally flitted
close to the camp, never leaving the underbrush. They
were active, insect-hunting warblers — grayish above
and scarlet below, the bright hue bordered in front by
a collar of black across the breast. Sometimes they
mounted a twig and sang a brief, silvery song, but
a sharp call-note marked their presence, when busy in
quest of food. Only when the song was heard might
we hope for a good look at their rosy feathers, as at
other times they persisted in presenting thei dull
upper plumage.

We called them Scarlet Ground Warblers, but Sci-
ence demands Granatellus venustus, or at most only
unbends enough to permit us to speak of them as the
Du Bus Red-breasted Chat! Fie on human names!
What poetry or significance does the appellation
convey? What iota of the bird’s habits or hint of the
dainty song or form or colours is conveyed in those
first syllables ?

One very remarkable fruit attracted our attention.
Scattered over the tree were many round, green seed-
pods. These, when ripe, split open on one side and
the slit gradually widened. The seeds within now pro-
truded in two rows, bright scarlet at the base with
black and white tips. The effect was most startling,
for, as we stood below and looked upward, a thousand

é 288 >

THE TROPICS

THE GROTESQUE FRUIT

mouths seemed to be grinning down at us. When
overripe the tooth-like seeds projected still farther
from the fruit-lips, and the dripping sap added a new
element of grotesqueness. Absurd as it may seem, the
facial expression of the seed-pods changed from day to
day! When first beginning to open, a gentle smile
characterized the fruit, and, as the gap widened and the
seeds appeared, the semblance to a smile became a grin,

€ 289 4

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

and at last a ferocious snarl! Its botanical name is
Tabernemontana palmeri.

Band-tailed Pigeons and Red-bellied Ground Squir-
rels were very abundant, and our larder never ran low.
The White-winged Doves were building their rough
platforms of sticks high up in the Mimosa trees, but
none were quite finished before we broke camp.

Ever since we began to observe Mexican Nature,
the Caracara Hawks had attracted our attention, but
not until now had we seen them so numerous or so
tame. They fairly equalled the vultures in numbers
and excelled them in audacity. In habits they were
vulturine, joining these birds in their feasts of car-
rion and refuse. Indeed their almost bare face hints
of such habits. They are interesting birds, and odd to
very grotesqueness. Psychologically speaking, there
is a very distinct line between the vultures and
hawks. The latter are usually stolid and severe in
their demeanour, while vultures are endowed with
a spirit of rollicking fun and humour which is remark-
able. Caracaras share this characteristic, and are
the most playful of all birds in captivity. I have
seen them frolic with each other in a most unbird-like
manner, rolling over and over upon the ground, turn-
ing somersaults until every feather seemed to be on
end.

We found them no less amusing in their wild state,
and their antics over the bones which we strewed

of 290 do

THE TROPICS

about for their delectation were very amusing. Many
of the positions which they assumed would disgrace a
taxidermist should he attempt to copy them. A favour-

THE WOODEN CARACARA

ite pose which I managed to catch with the camera
was a, stiff, wooden bracing of the feet, the bird rest-
ing partly on the tip of the tail. When very hungry,
and in view of a prospective banquet, the Caracara
had a fine, almost noble bearing. The body was held

a
eG 2919

in a low, hawk-like attitude, the crest rose and fell
nervously, and the eyes were bright and piercing ;
but when sated with food and resting, it seemed
wholly another bird. The position was then very up-
right, the head drawn down, the eyes half closed,
and when all the cactus tops in sight were thus sur-
mounted, the effect was most singular. The senses of
the Caracaras seemed not so keen as those of the vul-
tures, and the former birds were, in a sense, partly
parasitic on their ignoble associates, — the vultures,
— following and watching them closely. When some
prey was spied, the Caracaras forcibly took the first
and best share.

There was great excitement among the vultures and
Caracaras when the dead skunk was discovered, some
distance from our camp. A great number collected
at once, but were rather shy about approaching the
dreaded animal. The Caracaras led the way and
walked slowly toward the skunk, when, suddenly
seized with terror, they turned and ran off at full gal-
lop, spreading the alarm and scattering the whole mob
of vultures. At last hunger overcame all prejudice
and they attacked the carcass. To my surprise a pair
of skunks unexpectedly appeared at this moment, and
trotted quickly out from the underbrush. They rushed
at the feathered scavengers, who fled in wild dismay,
this time taking to the tree-tops. The skunks stamped
angrily and sniffed at their dead companion, and then

fe 292

# THE TROPICS

disappeared as suddenly as they had come. In a day
or two the bones of the skunk were picked clean. It
was interesting to see what creatures were attracted by
carrion. I was surprised to see opossums come fre-
quently to the scattered remains and roll upon them.
Beautiful butterflies, with wings shot with lines of
purple, hovered and alighted upon the ill-smelling
bones, and lingered in the vicinity all day, as if the
odour were that of some exquisite flower. In fact, cer-
tain flowers, much frequented by some insects, are
known to exhale most unpleasant perfumes, and prob-
ably these insects were examples of that group.

The butterflies at this season of the year were very
interesting, — not from an entomological collector’s
standpoint, however, since all were bedraggled and
torn. They were the survivors of the past season,
barely holding their own, and their wings testified to
many narrow escapes from birds. Out of fifteen butter-
flies, which I captured one morning, all but two
showed evidences of attacks by birds. In no less than
twelve instances the tear was in some marginal spot of
brilliant colour, showing the value of these markings
on the extreme edges of the wings, in attracting the
attention of the assailant from the more vital parts of
the insect.

Every walk about our camp revealed new flowers or
seed-pods of beautiful colours and strange shapes. We
longed for the key to the inter-relations of plants and

§ 293 >

insects, for hints concerning the complicated depend-
ence of all the life about us, —bird on insect, insect
on plant, plant on both, which ever lmks even the
extremes of Nature.

Sitting in the shade of our tents during the heat of
midday, we became interested in a flowering vine which
twined up the young trees to which our tent-ropes
were fastened. We found that it was a species of Birth-
wort (Aristolochia), related to the Dutchman’s-Pipe of
the United States.

Until we learned its affinities, we called it the
Trumpet-Trap Vine. It was an interesting illustration
of the carrion blossoms which I mentioned a few para-
graphs back. The odour was not strong, and though
there were hundreds of flowers on the vine, we could not
detect the unpleasant scent unless we carefully smelled a
number of blossoms at once. They gave forth a faint
odour of musk, very different from the odours of other
species of this family, which are tainted with the scent
of carrion, or rotten fish, while a West Indian variety
has an odour exactly like decayed tobacco. Slight as
was the scent, it seemed more than once to attract
burying beetles, which we noticed bumping’ clumsily
against the flowers, misled in their search for a suit-
able place to deposit their eggs. These were unin-
vited interlopers, which could benefit neither the
blossoms nor themselves, and which soon went hum-
ming’ off into the woods.

euonnsene, re [te

seesesseraten

The delicate-stemmed Trumpet-Traps twined and
twisted their way high overhead and hung in festoons
about us. The vine had rounded, heart-shaped leaves,
and the long tubular flowers were of a dull yellowish
hue, reminding one in their shape somewhat of minia-
ture Jack-in-the-Pulpit spathes. These flowers were
indeed tiny, compared to the blossoms of certain South
American species of this group, which are so large
that native children slip them over their heads, like
caps with tall, pointed crowns.

After a little patient watching and a little dissection
of blossoms, we learned much of the interesting life
history of this vine, and we later verified the signi-
ficance of the details in Kerner’s “ Natural History of
Plants.” One thing became apparent at the outset;
namely, that the black flies had at least one other mis-
sion in life besides that of trying, for a short time
morning and evening, to penetrate our head-nets. The
little rounded lobe at the entrance of the Trumpet-Trap
flower is like a doorstep, forming a convenient and
safe alighting-place for any small fly or insect which
may be attracted by the odour from within.

Let us follow the adventures of one of these trouble-
some black midges, which, for all we could see, were
blood brothers to those of the Canadian backwoods.
Our midge alights on the lobe of the Trumpet-Trap
flower, which is just opened and as yet unfertilized.
The little fellow twiddles his antenne ecstatically, as

é 5 >
«@ 295 3

& TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

the (to him) delicious musky scent is wafted out. He
makes his way upward and at once finds himself at
the entrance of a long narrow tube, thickly beset with
small hairs, whose tips, all pointing inward, meet at
the centre. Before he enters he may, if he chooses,
turn about and fly away, but once within he is doomed.
“ Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’ entrate,”” — All
hope abandon, ye who enter in, — might have been fitly
inscribed upon the flower’s portal. Strive and struggle
as he may, the sharp-pointed hairs only force him
onward the faster, until the tunnel widens out into a
circular chamber. This is free from the sharp recurved
hairs and it is comfortably warm, in addition to which
the soft-walled cells lining the little prison-chamber
are, in midge estimation, good eating. For perhaps
two days the little fellow is thus confined: then the
anthers of the flower burst open and liberate a quantity
of meal-like pollen. This is indeed a feast, and the
black midge falls to and gorges himself, at the same
time getting his body thickly covered with the powdery
substance.

But even the most delectable dainties cloy at last,
and, though the prison-cell has provided him with
warmth, shelter, and food, yet the little midge becomes
restless and seeks to escape. Sooner or later he finds
the tunnel opening, through which he found his way
into the blossom, and here a strange thing happens.
The stockade of hairs no longer bars the way. The

4 THE TROPICS 2

inscription would have been false after all; all hope
need not have been left behind. A few steps take him
to the portal in the outer air, and his tiny wings bear
him away into the sunlight.

But the memories of the feast in the magic chamber
overcome all remembrance of the forced confinement ;
and our midge soon seeks another newly opened
blossom with its inviting doorstep. As in the case of
the first flower, the anthers are closed as yet, but the
stigma is waiting for the fertilizing pollen from another
blossom. In comes the black midge, urged on by
a similar circle of recurved hairs. As he enters the
chamber, the pollen on his body brushes against the
stigma and the mission and real meaning of all this
elaborate entertainment for the midge is perfectly
accomplished. The desires of the midge were all
selfish ; and even the apparently gratuitous luncheon
provided by the blossom was only a means to the all-
important end of providing for the seeds of the next
season.

But the magic goes a step farther. When the midge
emerges from this blossom, if some pleasant memory
should attract him back to the first flower, he would
find himself rebuffed — the door locked in his face
as it were. No sweet musky odour comes from the
cells, now shrivelled and dried, and the stepping-
stone lobe of the spathe, instead of being spread out,
is withered and bent down across the opening, shut-

ting out any would-be intruder. Thus the seeds are
allowed to ripen in safety; and a useless, and indeed
harmful, competition with unfertilized blossoms is
avoided.

Harmful self-fertilization within one flower is avoided
by the delay of a day or two in the opening of the
anthers, the stigma meanwhile having abundant oppor-
tunity to be fertilized by the incoming insects, for two
or three midges are sometimes prisoners in the same
cell.

But the flowers were not entirely free from molest-
ation, and occasionally a small troop of birds would
spend some time about, or even on, our tents, tearing
the blossoms apart and devouring the unfortunate
midges, sometimes even swallowing the whole blossom.
Black-capped Vireos occasionally swarmed through the
underbrush about us, and I once counted as many as
thirty Nashville Warblers in sight at one time. On
this vine we saw our tamest Townsend Warblers. They
had long puzzled us by keeping to the tops of the
highest trees, but here they came to our very tent-doors,
and joined the Nashvilles in their hunt for midges. It
was the frequent visits of these birds which first drew
our attention to the curiously constructed blossoms,
and the first thought was that these were like Pitcher
Plants, carnivorous, entrapping the midges in order to
extract nutriment from their dead bodies.

The study which we gave to these flowers of the

$ 298 >

Trumpet-Trap Vine, growing so close to our tent, only
showed what marvels were awaiting investigation on
every hand in this strange wonderland.

HEAD OF CARACARA

CHAPTER XIII

THE HOT LANDS OF THE PACIFIC

OT far from our camp was a tangle and

Key maze of vines and fig-trees, through which
B\ the brook flowed softly, and here we
M24 spent whole days, quietly watching. the
tropical life going on about us.

As we parted the thick screen of leaves one day,
a glance into the dim vista ahead showed a spot of im-
maculate white—a Little Blue Heron in its snowy
juvenile plumage, standing motionless in the shallow
water. The bird’s quick ear caught a swish of the
twigs and it glanced suspiciously in our direction. For
a minute it stood straight and slim, then spread its
wings and lightly and gracefully drifted away over the
water, its blurred reflection doubling its beauty, until
a low-branching cottonwood intervened.

At the first step forward, three White-winged Doves
burst from the underbrush ahead, and with a clatter
and rush of wings left the woods, much to our relief,
for these stupid creatures never take to flight until one
is almost upon them, and then tear off with such an
uproar that the birds, for many yards around, are made
suspicious and uneasy. But withal these doves were

onmrne BOO Boerne

beautiful birds, and when their plump, fawn-coloured
forms would go humming away, brightened with three
(almost) semicircles of white on wings and tail, the eye
was delighted.

A sharp chut ! came from my very feet and up sprang
a bird, also with three flashes of white, but on noise-
less pinions. It sailed about in a low, narrow circle and
plumped suddenly down among the dead leaves, fifteen
feet away. It was a Parauque, a strange name for a
strange bird! It has the white wing-bars of a night-
hawk, but its general colouration and actions are more
those of a whip-poor-will. The marbled and mottled
plumage of these ground birds is as beautiful as it is
indescribable. A woodcock has similar patterns. It
is the feathered essence of dead leaves, moss, bits of
fungi, broken twigs, decayed wood and lichens. Par-
auques were very abundant in this locality, and we sel-
dom took a walk without flushing a dozen or more.
The actions of the one which I aroused in the tangle
were typical of all. It almost invariably faced me each
time it alighted, holding its head low, and thus hiding
the white throat. The dark, lustrous eyes closed until
they became two narrow slits. As I flushed it again
and again, it once or twice alighted broadside toward
me, but at my next movement toward the bird, it
bounced up like a ball and oriented itself. The bird
refused to leave the tangle, preferring to rise and
settle a score of times, as I crossed and recrossed the

tiie went BOL Seeman

limited area in pursuit of other birds. Numerous as
these birds were, all about our camp, we never once
heard the nocturnal cry, which has given them their
odd name of Parauque.

Our favourite tangle was seldom without its comple-
ment of Yellow-bellied Trogons — generally a closely
associated flock of three or four individuals, betraying
their presence by an occasional soft cluck ! They are
very similar to the rose-coloured trogons of our former,
more elevated camp, but the rose is replaced with a
delicate lemon yellow. These birds fed upon small
berries which grew on slender twigs, too slight to sup-
port the weight of the birds. Their custom was to dart
to the panicle of fruit, hover in front of it for a mo-
ment, snatch a berry, and return to their perch to eat
it. When several of the trogons were feeding upon
one small tree, it was a beautiful —a brilliant sight.
From the weakness and small size of their feet and
legs, this habit of feeding upon the wimg would seem
an inevitable one —as in the case of kingfishers and
whip-poor-wills.

When at rest, their backs were always turned toward
us, iridescent green in the male bird and uniform gray
in its mate. When they left their perch, they fell for-
ward, making a short drop straight downward, show-
ing all the beauty of yellow and white and green. As
suddenly, they then flashed upward, and none but dull
hues were visible.

>»,
€& 302 +

These are birds of the true tropics, comparable with
no Northern family. Classed between the cuckoos and
kingfishers, they resemble neither in appearance. The
hollow curvature of the wing-feathers of a Bob-White
is a characteristic so exaggerated in a trogon that the
primaries wrap close about the body, rather lke the
skinny, clutching fingers of a bat than like the feathers
of a bird’s wing. Its feet and legs, feathered down to
the very toes, are so tiny, that when the bird is perch-
ing, they are never visible. The Yellow-bellied Trogon
is more silent than its congener, the Coppery-tailed,
which we saw higher up in the mountains. Its common
utterance is a soft cluck ! When suddenly alarmed, it
utters a sharp, rolling cr-cr-cr-er-ck ! which, softened
and mellowed, is the ordinary call-note of the Coppery-
tailed species.

Trogons always sit very upright on the branch, their
tails hanging straight downward, but jerked violently
forward atevery cluck! The tail-feathers are so abruptly
truncated that one almost wonders if these birds have
not learned something of the Motmot’s habits!

As I was watching a trogon one day, something drew
my eyes aside to a small vista among the leaves, hardly
four feet from my face, and there, framed in the clear
opening, almost within reach of my hand, sat an ex-
quisite Motmot, his pendulum rackets swinging from
side to side — beating time to his mood. His soft red
eyes, glowing from the centre of his great head, lent

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

a strange, unreal air to his whole appearance. Calmly
he eyed me, never moving until I reached out my hand
toward him.

A certain wide-branching tree, covered with berries,
was never wholly deserted by birds, and generally its
foliage was in constant motion, as its feathered visitors
climbed among the leaves and fruit. Our hearts were
gladdened by the sight of a flock of robins, but a
second glance showed them to be strange birds, garbed
in familiar dress and with the blood-mark of our robin
in every action. But the hue of the breast of our
robin covered the back as well, in these birds, giving
us a Red-backed Robin, a very distinct species. From
its scientific name we should call it the Yellow-billed.
In every flock of twenty or more, there were several
large, sombre-hued individuals, of varying shades from
head to tail—veritable ghosts of giant robins. But
whether a robin’s plumage be faded to very ashes, or
dyed a flaming scarlet, the sidewise cock of the head,
the upright carriage, the well-known chirp penetrate
all disguises. In a British volume this sombre bird
is catalogued as the “Sorry Thrush,’ — truly a literal
translation of Merula tristis, but surely Gray-breasted
Robin is preferable !

These races of Gray-breasts and Red-backs may be,
speaking from an evolutionary point of view, fore-
fathers, cousins, or descendants of our Red-breasts. To
us, they seemed unreal copies, mingling the familiar with

€ 304 $

4 THE HOT LANDS OF THE PACIFIC ‘emus

the strange in a way which was most fascinating to
us, knowing, as we had heretofore, only our American
Robin. I had never imagined that our beloved bird
could have any imitators, he always seems so distinctly
individual; there exists such a gulf between him and
even his near relative the Wood Thrush.

Another familiar form slipped around the dead bark
of a broken limb and with a penetrating chirp greeted
me as a friend —a Black and White Creeper in full
plumage. There was no mistake this time. Our little
feathered countryman was on his way northward, per-
haps the first of his kind to feel the thrilling impulse
tugging him along, although the same instinct would
as surely restrain him until the deep snows, which then
covered his summer home, were melted and the cocoons
and hibernating insects were bare and beginning to
quicken in the sunshine of the coming month.

On the side of the tangle farthest from the brook
was an impenetrable natural barrier of thorny bushes,
the favourite haunt of a half-dozen wrens. They were
Oak Forest Wrens, although they certainly did not
deserve their name in this low country. Perhaps they
had a nest in preparation, for they were very fearless
and scolded me roundly, uttering a harsh wren-like
chatter, whenever I approached. Now and then their
clear liquid song was heard, a ringing Chut’-e-ty !
Chut’-e-ty ! Chut’-e-ty ! bringing to mind the strain of
our Carolina Wren.

wit, TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3m

Finches of various kinds flitted among the under-
brush, clinging to the seed panicles or scratching among
the dead leaves. The most abundant were the soft-
chirping Black-headed Grosbeaks, looking in their
winter garb like giant sparrows. With these were
many gray and brown-headed Sinaloa Sparrows of the
southern species—closely related to the Texas Sparrow.
Hepatic Tanagers and Turquoise-fronted Buntings
mingled with the others in the bushes or among the
hanging vines. When a female of the latter species
hopped into view, the thought at once came —is it
possible that a female English Sparrow has penetrated
even to this wild region! But the mate of the little
brown bird soon followed, resplendent in blues of
every hue — marine, cobalt, azure, turquoise! And
our fears were laid to rest.

Birds have a wonderful faculty of dodging, when in
full flight, through thick underbrush and vines without
ruffling so much as a feather’s tip; but in this land of
spines and thorns they sometimes come to grief. Oc-
casionally a tiny half-dried skeleton clattered its little
bleached bones in the wind, or again we would come
across a bird which had recently been entangled and
thus met its death, perhaps a beautiful Painted Redstart.

One tragedy of this kind will long remain in our
memories. Of all birds hummingbirds would seem
most exempt from the myriad dangers which threaten
the race of feathered beings — the dangers from

$ 306 $

PAINTED REDSTART CAUGHT ON THORN

owls, snakes, the elements, and a hundred others.
The tiny bright eyes of the hummingbirds, their
marvellous vibrating wings, and their small size protect
them from hawks and all such birds of prey. They
fight fiercely among themselves, sometimes to the death,
but it is very strange that these mites of the air are
not more numerous — their food, the tiny insects in
flowers, is so abundant, and their nests are so well
concealed.

A few months before we reached Mexico a certain
hummingbird had been tightly curled up in the tiniest

¢ 307 >

~ TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO ;:

of white eggs. A little later he had appeared as an
ugly, naked, short-billed hummerling, sharing the cup
of plant-down with his sister, and peering over the
rim of the lichen-covered cradle.

We saw him only in his death — the only time we
have ever seen a hummingbird which had died from
accident. The little fellow, not yet in his adult plum-
age, had apparently attempted to snatch an insect from
a bunch of burr-blossoms. Vibrating a little too near,
one wing had become caught, and instantly the tiny
body had been precipitated upon the mass of prickles,
every struggle holding it but the tighter.

At the southern jungle-edge of the tangle was a great
fig-tree, all but throttled with a vine, which twined
and knotted its mighty folds about the trunk and
branches, until it was hard to say to which belonged
the leaves, to which the fruit. Large currant-like ber-
ries, with a black stone in each one, hung from the
tendrils of the vine. The lessening vitality of the an-
cient tree had attracted devastating insects, and its
vine-shadowed and strangled twigs were wreathed in
thousands of webs and caterpillar nests —a_ perfect
feast for all birds, insectivorous and frugivorous.

In this land overflowing with hfe, we found now
and then evidences of tragedies, which had been
enacted in the deep silence of the woods — piles of
feathers, scattered bones, which told of pursuit and
flight, battle, surrender, and death. But we were less

A TRAPPED FAIRY

uungg, THE HOT LANDS OF THE PACIFIC esus

likely to take note of the struggles to the death, going
on all about us, as the various forms of vegetation
fought for space and light. Because the movements
and the tightening of the great liana coils were slower
than any serpent, no less was death in their grip. Oc-
topus-like, they reached upward and dangled their
tendrils over every twig, shutting out with their leaves
the life-giving sunlight.

These vines seemed of interminable length and of
incalculable age. In certain places, huge regular coils
lay along the ground, like giant hollow screws. A
careful search showed that once these screws embraced
some mighty tree, which, suffocated and killed, had
given way and crashed to the ground, carrying with it
its destroyer. Soon decay and insects attacked its
fallen trunk and it sank and merged into the mould.

The vine, unharmed, had bent pliantly, as its victim
fell to earth, and with insatiable fingers reached out
for other prey. When at last the first light touch of
its delicate tendrils felt their way to another trunk, we
could almost imagine a shudder of terror agitating the
doomed tree. And then the vine grew even more rapidly,
vitalized by the decaying body of its first victim which
was slowly falling into dust and loam. Here and there
a sapling had been passed by the outreaching vine, as
if it voluntarily sought a worthier prey.

The new branches, which the trees sent out to escape
the embrace of death, were pitiful. The trunk seemed

% 311 +

: TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3%

to buttress itself with aerial roots, as the weight of the
vine dragged downward ever more heavily. The poor
rooted giants appealed to us, as would birds or beasts
suffering in the coils of a serpent, and more than once
we released such a tree and gave it a new lease of life
—centuries it may be— by severing the vine at its
root. When, in the dead of night, the silence was
sometimes broken by the distant fall of one of these
trees, —a hissing crash followed by the dull roar of
the fall,— our feelings went out in sympathy for the
monarch which, for so many decades, had withstood
earthquakes and storms, only to be vanquished by the
insinuating foe, which had climbed up to the light of
day by means of the tree’s sturdy trunk.

Another phase of the struggles between vine and
tree was not uncommon. The vine would throw down
numerous roots, which took a fresh hold, and thus,
gradually, a dense interlacing of woody stems was
wound about the tree, fretting the helpless trunk with
an intricate network. The death of the imprisoned
tree ensued, but, instead of falling, it was held in place
by the vine and exposed to boring insects and Wood
Ants, which speedily reduced it to sawdust. Often we
saw such a framework of vines from which all signs of
the tree had vanished.

Yet all these struggles and deaths were mere inci-
dents in the jungle life. The supremacy of the vine
and the death of the tree were two facts which he who

€ 312 >

wuugé THE HOT LANDS OF THE PACIFIC ‘¥emun

ran might read. But the thousand and one influences,
subtle, far-reaching, and powerful, which were woven
into each such incident, could only be conjectured. The
biography of a tropical tree has never been written.
When it is, few books will equal it in interest. All the
environment aids its young growth; every influence is
turned against it, when once it weakens. The rains,
which nourish the surging’ sap, later filter into every
crevice and rot the wood of its very heart. The myriads
of insects, which, in its vigour, it has defied, now de-
vour leaf and twig and bore it from bark to bark. The
lichens, which before only enriched the loam at its
roots, now bring swift decay to its noblest boughs.
Long before our senses can perceive any lack of
vigour, word has somehow been passed, and the allies
of the fatal vine hasten, vulture-like, to take their
part in the unequal struggle. We read of savages
sometimes dressing their captives in most elaborate and
brilhant clothing before putting them to death. So,
when its fate is sealed, the tree occasionally bursts
forth into gorgeous bloom —a mock splendour not
its own. Such is the case when certain parasites, fol-
lowing the track of the vine, fill the branches, each
rooted deeply in the weakened wood, and living on the
very life-sap of the tree. These parasites unfold great
masses of deep scarlet blossoms, which light up the
dark glades of the jungle. Unless a branch is cut off,
and the section closely examined, the flowers would be

- TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

taken for those of the tree itself, so close is the union
of the parasite and its host.

Trees are very sensitive to their environment, and
mould the effects of their surroundings into their
growth. The stunted firs and spruces at the edge of
the Bay of Fundy are permanent witnesses to the
terrible winds and storms of past years; every bough
and twig reaching landward, away from the path of
the blasts. Canadian balsams often grow so close to-
gether that their bare stems all but touch, and make it
impossible for even a rabbit to creep between, and here
we see everywhere signs of the warfare which goes on
in the forest.

The reverence which we pay to age should not be
denied to a tree, and when we see a mighty trunk up-
lifted in these thick jungles, we should spare it a
thought of admiration when we consider the centuries
of constant struggle against animate and inanimate
foes, by which alone it has maintained its place and
prestige. The great wild fig-trees, which are sometimes
overcome by choking vines, occasionally begin life in
a most novel way. A favourite nesting-site of wood-
peckers is in the soft, pulpy branches of the organ
cactus. If it happens that a seed of the fig-tree be-
comes lodged in one of these deserted nesting-holes,
it soon sprouts in the mould at the bottom. The seed
develops and sends a long, thread-like root-tendril to
the ground, and the ensuing growth may become a

$3143

THE HOT LANDS OF THE PACIFIC 3

mighty tree, enveloping the cactus, and spreading wide
its branches in all directions.

When once we begin to look for evidence of these
silent struggles of the jungle, we find them on all sides,
and so realistic do they appear, and so strongly do they
appeal to our sympathies, that we are again and again
reminded of the living forest of which Dante wrote :

“T heard on all sides lamentations uttered,
And person none beheld I who might make them,
So many voices issued through those trunks
From people who concealed themselves from us ;
Men once they were, and now are changed to trees.”

The most delightful time of day in our tropic tangle
was early morning, and, indeed, where in the world is
it not? At this time the air was cool and fresh, and
the vistas along the brook were alive with birds, some
bathing and drinking, others gleaning fish or tiny
snails from its depths or borders. Little teetering
sandpipers and Louisiana Water-thrushes were always
in view, and the dainty Blue Heron seemed a regular
habitué of this part of the stream.

One morning a Black Hawk swept low through the
branches and on out of sight. Hardly had he passed,
when eight White Ibises veered around a bend in the
stream and slowed up just abreast of where we were
seated. Their pink legs were outstretched to alight,
when one caught sight of us. He dashed up, and back
on his track, and silently, except for a swish of wings,

¢ 315 >

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 2

the other seven turned and followed. Their curved
bills and long legs were bright pink and gleamed viv-
idly, as the white cloud of birds winged its way north-
ward over the tops of the palms.

Having need of the skin and skeleton of a Black
Hawk, I shot one of these birds not far from camp,
and only when too late, I found that it was one of a
par which had built a nest overhanging the stream.
Shortly after the death of her mate (for my specimen
was a male bird) the female returned and alighted upon
the nest. It was built in the top of one of the lana-
encumbered trees, which was draped and hung with
a thick mass of entangled vine-cordage. By pulling
myself up these slender rope-like lianas, I was able to
look down into the structure, without once touching
the trunk or branches of the tree itself. The hawk
left the nest as I reached it. I found nearly a bushel
of rough sticks woven compactly together, and a thick
lining of fresh willow leaves had been recently added,
but there were no eggs. My regrets at having shot the
male were needless, for the very next day I found that
the bereaved bird had found a mate and both were
carrying more leaves to add to the lining.

In this same tangle, there once came to us one of
those fortunate moments which remain so long in one’s
mind; one of those settings around which memory
groups the details and lesser happenings. A Belted
Kingfisher rattled on a branch overhead, and the sight

and sound quickened our breath. For an instant apple-
trees, high river-banks, and a quiet mill-pond replaced
palms, bamboos, and the dark, jungle-stained pool. But
only for an instant, for, from upstream, a second kine-
fisher form came into view and swerved up from its
water-skimming flight to a low perch across the pool.
A little green and white Texas Kingfisher quirked his
head downward, glanced quickly at us, as we smiled at
his diminutive figure. As if to reproach our amusement,
he dived like an arrow, splashed beneath the water,
and returned to the perch with an inch-long minnow.
Surprise must indeed have been written on our faces, as
a third kingfisher —a giant of his race — flew swiftly
toward us and perched near his pigmy cousin. How
insignificant the Belted Kingfisher now seemed! He
fairly shrunk before our eyes, as our gauge of de-
velopment shifted to the newcomer, the great Rufous-
bellied Kingfisher. To our eyes, the two extremes
seemed comparable to a sparrow and a raven. Two
charges of shot and a millimetre rule would, doubtless,
have shown this to be an exaggeration, but we were
content to let them live and refer to our handbook for
measurements.

The big cousin was a handsome bird, with his warm
red under parts set off by the bands of blue and white
across his breast. We waited eagerly to hear his voice.
But his rattle was not so clear nor se loud and pene-
trating as that of our Belted Kingfisher.

svn BLT Bownnnnn

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO £8

We shall never forget the trio of birds perching so
near together — a small congress of all the species of
kinefishers which find their
way into the southern part
of our own country. The
least of the three was the
first to leave, soon followed
by the Belted. The great
Rufous bird looked about
him, his eye rested upon the
water, and without hesita-
tion, he dived downward and
rose with a six-inch fish from
the pool. Verily I believe if
TEXAS KINGFISHER, FisHinc oN the Belted Kingfisher had

eee dived before he flew, he
would have secured a three-inch minnow! A mile or
two from the tangle was a little dry, sandy arroyo,
inhabited by a single Texas Kingfisher. There was
no water near; nevertheless, here he might always
be found, dashing after grasshoppers and butterflies
and snatching up diminutive lizards, as skilfully as
ever one of his race caught a fish. It was amusing to
see him, after each of his sallies, flirt his plumage and
wings, instinctively shaking imaginary drops of water
from his feathers.

As one walked through the tangle, a large dark ob-
ject would sometimes loom up in front, suspended among

the branches, five or six feet from the ground. These
were hard earthen ants’ nests, roughly circular in
shape and sometimes a yard or more in diameter. In

ANTS’ NEST IN TREE

several instances I found where parrakeets had bur-
rowed deep into them, forming a chamber at the end
of a long, narrow entrance. Whether they did this to
feed upon the small architects, or whether they actually

imma TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3feis
used these curious structures as nests, I could not
determine.

Now and then our old friends the Long-tailed Blue
Jays visited our tangle, whereupon we promptly left it,
knowing that their shrieks and cries would, for the
present, put an end to the bird-study in that vicinity.
Once, several of these annoying birds dashed into
sight, wild with excitement. Their longest tail-feathers
were gone, and in general they presented a hopelessly
bedraggled appearance, being apparently in full moult.
The object of their persecution was a hawk, one of
the finest of the Mexican birds of prey, and by far the
most strikingly marked. It is well named the Laugh-
ing Falcon, for at times its call is remarkably like the
human expression of mirth.

The colouring of the bird is a harmonious blending
of brown, creamy buff, and white, but the most pro-
minent characteristic, visible at a distance, is a broad
band of black through the face and eyes, bringing
instantly to mind the markings on the head of a rac-
coon. We saw these hawks on the trail to Colima,
sailing about, for hours at a time, high overhead. They
are gentle birds, and when one was stunned and kept
captive for a few days, it soon became tame and took its
portion of food from our hands.

The most beautiful of all the small birds was a bunt-
ing. We christened him the Rainbow Bunting, but the
books call him the Leclancher Bunting. These little

= THE HOT LANDS OF THE PACIFIC Sein

finches flitted through the underbrush in pairs, search-
ing for insects and seeds among the leaves or mount-
ing to the top of a small bush and giving voice to their
joy in a little ditty, the attempt at which was most
to be admired, for the twittering ended in promise.
Their beauty and vivacity evade all description. A
photograph would convey nothing of their charm.
Try to imagine a little feathered sprite, less than five
inches in length, with a crown of apple-green ; cheeks,
back, wings, and tail of turquoise-blue; throat and
under parts of clear lemon-yellow; with a band of
delicate orange across the breast! His mate, who fol-
lows him so faithfully and listens to his pitiful song
so admiringly, has the greens and yellows in soft-
ened, indistinct hues. Altogether they are charming
little birds, living in a region where their beauty falls
only upon such unappreciative eyes as those of vultures
and coons.

Half-wild cattle now and then roamed through the
surrounding jungle, watching us, wide-eyed, until we
were out of sight. Their narrow, winding paths ren-
dered accessible the densest and most briary thickets,
fortunately for us.

Each animal was invariably attended by a following
of birds, which perched upon its back, or flew close to
it through the bush. They were Groove-billed Anis,
and they relieved the cattle of the ticks which cause
the poor creatures such torment. The Anis also picked

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

up a good living of insects which were disturbed by
the hoofs of the animals. When a steer began crop-
ping the short grass of some jungle lawn, a circle of
these slim black birds kept close to the muzzle of the
beast. He seemed to recognize their useful offices and
never attempted to molest them. They are strange,
loose-jointed birds, their wings hanging flimsily and
their long tails blowing about in the breeze, over their
backs or between their legs. Even in flight, their wings
and tails seem each moment about to fail in their
respective functions. When thew bovine comrades lay
down to rest for the night, the Anis roosted upon
their broad backs.

The most interesting bird which revealed itself to us
in our brookside tangle was a species of wood-hewer.
At first sight one got an impression of a gigantic Brown
Creeper, and no wonder, for as far as the literal mean-
ing of that name is concerned, it was brown and it
crept up the trunks of trees. As in the case of the
trogons, motmots, and parrots, this bird was almost
at the northern limit of the range of its family — the
Dendrocolaptide, or wood-hewers. Farther south in
Central and South America the members of this group
form no inconsiderable portion of the avifauna, number-
ing some two hundred and twenty species. Among
these are birds which are found on the open pampas
and which are, of course, terrestrial in their mode of
life ; others are found on or near the ground in dense

>:
ef 322 $

forests ; while an even greater number have the habits
of our Brown Creepers. The Swainson Wood-hewers

THE LAUGHING FALCON

which we saw were so timid and silent that they were
difficult birds to find and to watch.

The Laughing Falcons had uttered no sound within
our hearing, until we found them in these tropical

& 323 b>

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

lowlands, but here they made up in full measure for
this silence! The call of the loon is weird, the coyote’s
voice most lonesome, but, for pure diabolical utterances,
commend me to the Laughing Falcon and the Chacha-
laca, the acquaintance of both of which birds we made
early one morning. We were forcing our way through
a dense swamp, miles back in the jungle. The finest
ferns I ever saw stretched high above us, their lace-
work fronds six and eight feet from the ground. Huge
elephant ears, several feet across, sprouted from the
black oozing ground, and many odours, spicy and aro-
matic, filled the air. The delicate growths of filament-
ous algve beneath the surface of the water looked as
if nothing had disturbed their green thread-like leaves
for years.

Few birds were here and no humming of insects
was audible. The steaming air was so heavy with
pungent earth and swamp smells that one imagined
that all low sounds were deadened and lost. Here and
there a dry hummock rose from the swamp, covered with
short lawn-like grass and great running vines of con-
volvulus. From one of these a Boat-billed Heron flew
up, with a croak. Another parody of Nature and this
time on our Night Heron! In voice, actions, and flight
this tropical bird is an exact copy of our large-eyed
nocturnal heron, but its broad, flat bill is as different
as 1s the bill of a gannet from that of a pelican.

This bird was fearless and perched near by in full

ys,
g 3244

mua THE HOT LANDS OF THE PACIFIC

view. From the soiled condition of its bill and the
discolouration of the water I thought that its breakfast
had consisted of the worms and snails at the bottom,
rather than of the usual fish diet. We often heard these

THE COON HAWK

Boatbills flying over the camp at night and uttering
their discordant squawks.

$325 30

# TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO éinns

Near the edge of the swamp, we were startled by
a sudden snarl, and a long-tailed, dark, furry creature
dashed off through
the bushes, spring-
ing silently over the
soft mould. We had
no idea as to what it
was, but we found
its tracks to be small
and cat-like. Search-
ing the place from
which it sprang, we

THE SKULL OF A YAGUARONDI came across a seat-
tered mass of bones

and dried skin, which the vultures had evidently picked
clean. The skull of the creature was in almost perfect
condition, and we preserved it for identification. It
proved to be that of a Yaguarondi, a Mexican cat which
we had never expected to find in this part of the
country. There was very little doubt that the animal
which fled at our approach was also of this species, and
a few minutes later another, clearer view proved that
our surmise was correct.

What could have been its errand near the bones
of its dead comrade? Piles of scattered feathers here
and there in our path showed where unfortunate
Boat-bills had fallen victims to Yaguarondis, or to
other beasts.

THE HOT LANDS OF THE PACIFIC 3

BOAT-BILLED HERON

We reached dry ground at last and seated ourselves
on a fallen log. For amoment the silence was unbroken.
Then a fearful voice arose, apparently coming from all
directions at once. Cacklings, screeching, wheedlings,
peals of uncanny laughter! The screams of macaws
dwindled to mere whispers beside this awful din. It
gave us the greatest shock which we experienced on
our trip. One prominent factor in the medley was a
most peculiar subdued humming which, beginning low,
gained steadily in volume, until it ended in a shrill
falsetto shriek. A more terrifying sound can hardly
exist.

The authors of all this uproar soon made their ap-
pearance, a small flock of dark, fowl-like birds, which
we recognized as Chachalacas. They flew from tree to
tree, or ran frantically round and round in circles upon
the ground, uttering screams and the strange hum-
ming cries, but no sound bearing a resemblance to the
clear, ringing cha/-cha-lac ! with which we were famil-
iar in captive birds. The other performers in this
strange chorus were perched high in the trees, a quar-
tet of Laughing Falcons, which easily held their own.
Such awful shrieks of mirth were never fashioned by
human throats, and the weirdness of it all, breaking so
unexpectedly upon the silence of the jungle, made it
all the more startling.

Before we reached camp we were able to add the
Collared Peccary to our list. Three of these wild
pigs snorted in alarm, as we approached a glade, where
the underbrush thinned out. They peered at us
with their queer little eyes, and, with frantic grunts,
they tore off as fast as their short legs could carry
them.

We heard rumours of large blackish Osos (the native
word for bear) in the low mountains to the north of
us, in Jalisco, and I obtained the tooth of a bear
from a native hunter. Another Indian had the tiny
horns of a deer, shot in the state of Michoacan, a little
distance to the south. The deer was described as very
small, and always as having unbranched horns. I could

ramets 32GB Borne

not persuade the man to give them up, but a close
examination showed them to be those of the Brocket,

ANTLERS OF BROCKET

— probably the Black-faced species. The hunters said
that these deer lived in the densest jungles and that
they were very fleet runners. I could secure no more
facts concerning this little creature — the smallest of
the Mexican deer.

& TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO &

The hunters hereabouts were familiar with the
jaguar (tigre), and a smaller spotted tiger cat, or
ocelot, which they eall hwinduri. When I described
the Yaguarondi, they exclaimed /eoncillo. They speak
of the Peccary as la havelina.

I was very anxious to see curassows and guans which
were said to be found in the jungles not far from our
camp, and when I described, as best I could, these birds
to a Mexican, he exclaimed that there were a number
of tame ones at a neighboring hacienda. We rode
there one morning, six or seven miles through thick
forest and marsh, I lugging my largest camera, only
to find, instead of the anticipated guans, a bevy of
gobbling domestic turkeys. The disappointment and
chagrin of my Mexican guide, when he saw that they
were not what I had expected, made it impossible to
be out of temper with him.

One day while walking quietly through a dense part
of the jungle, where tall, thick-leaved trees shut out
the light and hence caused an absence of thick under-
growth, I saw a bird fly from a perch, catch an insect
in mid-air and dart back. I had not found any fly-
catchers heretofore in this thickly wooded section, and,
though my heart sank when I saw its back and wings
of the usual indefinite flyeatcher-hues of light gray,
and knew that exact identification without a gun would
be next to impossible, I approached the bird. It again
flew into the air and again returned to its favourite

wads, THE HOT LANDS OF THE PACIFIC 3

twig, this time facing me, when one glance removed
all doubt as to its identity ; for its breast was stained
a rich pink, which burned out brightly amid the dark
shadows. It was the Xantus Becard, the second mem-
ber of the family Cotingid@ we had met. From time
to time it uttered a low, indefinable lisp, and soon flew
away. Three other individuals were seen after that,
all solitary, all flycatching, all in such deep woods as
our Wood Pewee would love.

With all these interesting birds about our camp, how
I longed to spend weeks of exploration among these
jungles and marshes, where, later in the season, the
birds would all be in song, building their nests, or
feeding their young !

Early in the morning of the day that we planned to
spend at Manzanillo, we learned that the train passed
much earlier than we had expected. So, without break-
fast, we mounted two half-broken horses and rode at
a breakneck gallop, mile after mile, through the jungle
trail, dodging boughs, spurring the animals out of
morasses, and at last found ourselves seated in the nar-
row, dusty car.

Soon the green woods and bushy meadows gave
place to the rainless death—a desolate country of
parched grass, leafless trees, with dust, dust, every-
where. If anything could exceed the dust, it was the
heat. Before we reached Manzanillo we passed along
the great lagoon which has made Manzanillo one of the

most unhealthy cities in the world. Not a ripple stirred
the expanse of green slime which stretched away and
away. Here was stationed a motionless Great Blue
Heron or a Wood Ibis, there a Cormorant perched
upon a dead snag. It must indeed be terrible to the
poor people, who are forced to live at Manzanillo, to
watch the annual cutting off of the outlet of this
great ocean-fed lake, to see it become more green and
slimy day by day. Finally the myriads of fish strug-
gle and leap ashore in windrows, fighting for oxygen,
and then the terrible stench carries death on every
breeze. We passed the great cut through the hills
to the sea, which, it is hoped, will put an end to this
peril.

A few minutes after passing the sinister expanse of
the lagoon we reached the harbour of Manzanillo,
and there lay the Pacific — so deep and blue and pure.

“Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific, and all his men
Looked at each other with a wild surmise,
Silent upon a peak in Darien.”

We had but two hours before the train made its
return trip — only long enough to walk to the beach,
over the intervening hill, eat our lunch beside its
booming waves, and return. On the way we were in-
terested to see large cotton-trees, the new source of

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thievishness of the Mexicans, except that once in camp
a can-opener disappeared. This was at the time seri-
ous enough, for we found that a hatchet or stone,
instead of opening a tin can, merely changed its shape
from a cylinder to a flat disc, then to a rectangle and
to other geometrical figures, the contents being as
inaccessible as ever !

In former days, conditions were much worse, and
bandits more numerous than now. A traveller in Mex-
ico writes that, not so many years ago, the stage-coach
running between Guadalajara and Zapotlan used to
be held up regularly, sometimes at several places on
one trip.

“The highwaymen who came last would take from
the passengers even their underwear, though with
inborn chivalry they allowed the ladies to keep their
crinolines. The unfortunate travellers would arrive
at Zapotlan gowned in newspapers and the curtains
of the coach. Whenever the curtains were seen not to
be in their proper places it was at once understood in
the town what had happened. On one occasion the
soldiers guarding the road succeeded in catching the
captain of a gang of brigands. They placed their
prisoner on a donkey and took him to the nearest vil-
lage to deliver him to the magistrate. But when they
inquired for the judge, the people replied, ‘ There
you have him on the donkey !’”’

The present administration has brought the Republic

sninnmege BAS. Spovvnnn

- TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

much nearer the standards of civilization in this, as
in many other respects.

Our guide left the animals unguarded for a moment,
and when we came out of the hotel, a new bridle had
disappeared. The man shrugged his shoulders, accept-
ing the theft as a matter of course, and proceeded to
fashion another of rope. Shortly afterward, while I was
watching the pack-train, the unbridled horse took
fright and dashed off down the street. I stood helpless
for a moment, then I leaped into the nearest saddle, to
start in pursuit. But during the instant that I was
undecided, another was acting. A venerable Mexican,
wrapped to the eyes in his dirty serape, was passing.
The instant that the horse started, the old man threw
off his blanket, reached for the lariat hanging at
a pommel, swung it swiftly about his head, and flung
the whole lasso after the horse, now some distance
away. It took all his strength, and the effort was so
great that he fell to his knees, but the tangle of rope
flew true. Like something alive, it whirled through
the air, twisting and writhing. Then the long loose
end trailed out behind and the noose settled, with
exquisite nicety, over the head of the fleeing horse.
The animal stumbled on the dragging end, felt the pull
on his neck, and stopped instantly. Paying no attention
to my expressions of admiration and thanks, the aged
Mexican picked up his blanket, muffled himself in it,
and went on his way.

$ 346 3

plished so instantaneously and with such perfect judg
ment: by a man, too, whose age would have seemed
to preclude all activity.

COLIMA GROUND SPARROW

At this early hour the streets were almost deserted.
Venders of water, with their burros, each laden with
a quartet of o/las, clattered past. Our ride at sunrise

fout of the city, and along the first few miles of the
/ trail, was as perfect as a glorious spring day in the
tropics could make it. Flowers and fruit were every-
where, the woods and fields were fresh and green, and
so clear was the air that the gray slopes of the
volcano seemed but a mile or two away.
The Black-and-white-headed Colima Ground Spar-

OLD SPANISH BRIDGE

rows were in flocks all along the roadside. At first
glance, they brought to mind our White-crowned Spar-
rows of the North. They have an even-toned, con-
tinuous, and jumbled-up ditty, which, when uttered

e¢ 348 3

smug THE VOLCANO BY MOONLIGHT %&

in chorus, is very pleasing. Black-headed Grosbeaks
were also here in numbers, and Meadowlarks sang
from the meadows, in tones far sweeter than those
of our Northern bird. Once a Nonpareil Bunting flew
swiftly past, —in full gaudy dress of blue, green, and
red.

Later in the morning, a film of cloud tempered the
heat of the sun, and our little cavalcade clattered merrily
over the cobbles. Yes, real cobbles, but not the
rounded, closely laid affairs of our city streets. This
was an old Spanish road, and one may read, in the
relics of its elaborate construction, much of the am-
bitions and failures of the masters of the past. It
started out a wide, well-defined roadway, paved with
regular-shaped stones, a diagonal pattern of larger
cobbles woven through the whole. But the work
became less and less carefully done as we proceeded,
until finally the skeleton pattern alone marked the path
for mile after mile. The trail, however, even as far as
Tonila, was for the most part well built and levelled,
and some of the bridges were of remarkably firm con-
struction. For many scores of years they have with-
stood the floods of the rainy seasons. We were told —
and indeed we saw proofs of it — that when, for any
reason, it was necessary to destroy this centuries-old
masonry with dynamite, the cement held firm while
the stones gave way. There isa saying that the mortar
used was prepared a year in advance.

¢ 349 %

; TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 2#eu:

Each step took us higher, nearer the volcano. The
singing’ sparrows gave place to Western Blue Gros-
beaks and Varied Buntings, the male birds reflecting
tints of blue and purple, their mates feathered in dull
leaf-brown. The latter species occasionally uttered a
rather sweet but simple song.

In some places the trail was level and straight for
miles, and on the bordering stone walls great Iguanas
sunned themselves, or crawled lazily up among the
bushes. We could look ahead and count fifty or more
of these black saurians at once. Their curiosity held
them still for a moment, even after we came abreast
of them, and I amused myself trying to photograph
them with a kodak. I would set the shutter and fix
the focus for about eight feet, and then trot past
on the opposite side of the trail. Turning suddenly,
I would spur the horse, with one or two great leaps,
straight up to the lizard, point the camera at him, and,
if I was lucky, take a picture. If I was a fraction of
a second too slow in getting my balance, my film
would record only the mane of my horse, a bit of
cloud, or a pile of stones. One soon gets, instinctively,
the knack of levelling a camera, just as, after long
practice, a man learns to shoot a revolver accurately
from his hip.

Just as the heat began to grow oppressive, we
reached Tonila, and engaged a room, intending to
finish our journey next day. But after resting a few

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THE OLD SPANISH HIGHWAY

hours we felt so refreshed that we decided to go on.
No woman had ever covered this trail of sixty miles,
from railroad to railroad, from coast-level to table-
land, in one day, and Seforita, with her indomitable
spirit, had a keen desire to be the first to accomplish
this feat. It must be remembered that sixty miles in
this country means far more than the same number
over level, even paths.

Toward sunset we set out slowly, for by far the
hardest part of the trip was before us. The gradually
ascending slopes were past, and we plunged down into
the first-of the many barrancas. While leading our

# TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

py

animals down a steep, rock-strewn cliff, a little com-
pany of mourners passed us in the twilight. At the
head of the company two men were carrying a tiny
coffin, slung between them, on a pole. We stopped
one of the followers and questioned him. He told us
that a little brother and sister were rambling along the
depths of the barranca, when an animo—a spirit
of the dead — appeared suddenly to them. The little
fellow dropped dead from fear, and his sister had
gone insane, raving ever of the terrible apparition.
Such was the pitiful story, reflecting the weight of
superstition which clouds the minds of these simple
people.

The wonder of the closing hours of this day will
ever remain a vivid picture to Seforita and to me.
Even our stolid mozo, distracted by the vagaries of
two obstinate pack-mules, was strongly affected by the
scene. An unusually large quantity of white smoke
is pouring from the fire volcano, a few miles away.
After forming the usual flat, table-like mass above the
crater, this smoke drifts westward, and fills that whole
quarter of the heavens with soft, dense folds of palest
blue. The sun has been hidden for some time by these
clouds. Indeed, we have thought it already sunk be-
neath the horizon, when, unexpectedly, yet with the
deliberation of a planet’s motion, it emerges, shines
for a moment with a full blaze of yellow light, then
mellows again into obscurity.

. THE VOLCANO BY MOONLIGHT

What follows seems a direct result of the moment-
ary outpouring of glory. As if the sun’s rays had ig-
nited the pale clouds above the living crater, they take
to themselves a soft rose hue. This grows and grows,

THE VOLCANO IN ERUPTION

more warm, more brilliant, until the height of colour
is reached. The sky and bank of clouds beyond the
mountain are of the darkest blue, while the sharply de-
fined column of white steam ascending from the crater
is stained a fiery red on the side toward the sunset.
From this point the red is spread out in an ever-widen-
ing path, its brilliancy softened until, in mellow tints
of roseate haze, it warms the whole western sky. Earth-
flame and sun-glory — the one the daughter of the other

oi i= Ps
& 353 %

. TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO :

—seem once more united. The fearfully red glow at
the crater’s edge is, to the eye, translated, until it
seems to feed and flow and merge into the splendour
of the setting sun.

Never shall we forget our parting night with the
voleano. During the next two hours of our ride,
while the fading light of the afterglow is replaced by
the fitful, flickering light of the living voleano and
the thin star-gleams from Orion and Leo overhead, the
gradual changes are no less impressive.

The red becomes rose; the rose salmon; then only
an evanescent yellow tinge remains. Finally, the
sunset gone, the great mountain draws a cloak of
steaming mist about its jagged shoulders, and, with
a low, hollow rumbling, settles into the quiet of night,
reflecting indistinctly the hue of dead lava, which
it assumes when the world is dark. The clothing
of pines about the lower slope seems to hug more
tightly to their scanty-earthed root-hold. At one
side a fresh, seared line shows where a small crater
has recently opened and consumed the upper line
of trees, —the trunks and roots melting to nothing
before the terrible outpouring. Actual molten lava
seldom escapes from the lofty crater, hot ashes and
stones being the most common form of eruptive ma-
terial.

The mood of the mountain soon changes, the ground
quivers beneath our horses’ hoofs, the trees rustle their

354 >

VIINOL YUVGN TIVUL AHL
Jaydei30j0yd £0710 Ay

FI

THE VOLCANO BY MOONLIGHT

leaves while there is yet no wind, a rumble comes to
our ears, deeper than the roar of the sea, more solemn
than the reverberating groan of thunder. Then the
fumes about the mountain lift and drift apart, and
there, clear and distinct against the black of the sky,
we see the play and quiver of the fitful flames. A stoic
indeed must he be, who is not deeply moved by such
a sight; the ancient peak, so cold, so dead, and yet at
centre so vibrant with the everlasting fires of earth.
It is the most awe-inspiring — the most beautiful sight
in the world.

We advanced at a snail’s pace in the darkness,
letting the sure-footed pack-animals lead the way. At
the very brink of the great Barranca Vueltran is a
crumbling wayside corral, where pack-trains, laden
with sugar and cocoanuts, stop for the night. This
wayside house goes by the odd name of Conejo —
the rabbit. Here we unsaddled and waited for the
moon to rise, before descending into the dark gorge.

After some chécoldtl and frijd/es, we sat on a pile of
saddles and listened to our guide, as he sang Spanish
love-songs to the daughters of the host. It was truly
a Mexican scene. At one side a blaze of light comes
from the open door of a smoky little room, where a
party of muleteers are gambling — shuttling and deal-
ing the curious cards of the country, with gold balls,
platters, wooden clubs and crowns, instead of the usual
hearts and diamonds. Our guide, leaning against one

snare B57 Borne

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

of the innumerable hitching-posts, sings to the ac-
companiment of a guitar, in a clear tenor voice,
Paloma, and that most beautiful of all Mexican
songs — La Perjura. An old, old shrivelled Mexican
is squatting in a corner and mumbling to himself.
When we speak to him, he answers in the quaintest of
old Spanish proverbs, but will not talk of himself or
of his life. The moonrise was still an hour away, and
we watched the volcano burn on and thought of the
last great eruption, when a sheet of flame shot high in
air, and huge stones were thrown out, flaming in great

THE TWIN MOUNTAINS AT NIGHT

circles of fire, while sand and pebbles rained down
upon all the country hereabouts.

At last the lop-sided moon drifted above the oppo-
site wall of the barranca, and we said Adios! and

of 358 >

seg? THE VOLCANO BY MOONLIGHT ‘Hem

remounted. On our strong horses, Seforita and I soon
distanced the plodding pack-mules and found ourselves
far ahead. The muleteer was a trusty one, so we de-
cided not to wait for him, but to go on alone. Up the
winding trail we climbed, criss-crossing the face of
rocky cliffs, next a gallop over a level moonlit stretch,
and then a plunge into another dark, shadowy barranca.
Ten or twelve miles passed, and we were confronted
with a toll-gate, tightly locked. We learned from a
sleepy Mexican that the keeper was at Platina, a vil-
lage some five miles back on the trail, and that he was
very likely dead-drunk.

In vain we tried to finda place in the stone wall
over which we could leap our horses. In vain I offered
the man a peso, if he would get the key. We knew
that the Mexican Central train left Tuxpan at half-past
four in the morning, and the moon was already high
overhead. The chain was heavy and the lock inde-
structible, but there was a flaw in one of the cross-bars
of the gate. Senrorita held my horse while I took a run
and threw my full strength against it, and at last it
gave way.

An Indian came down the hill behind us, and al-
though he knew little Spanish, the situation was plain
to him. He kicked the sleeping Mexican, who paid
not the slightest attention, and then he helped me.
With a few hard rushes we had the gate scattered over
several yards of hillside. I had little fear of the con-

6 359 de

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO :

sequences, as the gate-keeper should have been on duty
all night.

The weirdness of our ride through the long, long
night fascinates us both. We are wide-awake, every
sense on the alert. Scattered clouds pass across the
moon, shadowing the trail and changing the spreading
yellow-barked trees into dim ghosts. Now and then
some creature scuttles from our path ; twice the omin-
ous whirr of a rattlesnake sets our horses a-quiver.
Deer splash away from the shallow fords, where we
cross the streams. Bats fan our cheeks, while ever the
scarlet-capped volcan watches over us.

We rode a little out of our way to pass our arroyo
camping-place. Its shrivelled barrier of thorns, and
the scattered bits of paper, were just as we left them
a month ago. A feeling of sadness came over us as
we passed, for the last time, the well-known places ;
the trees and rocks which we knew so well, each fixed
in our memory by some association. All was silent and
white in the moonlight. The wildness and desolation
of this untamed country seemed more pronounced
here, where once our home tent had been pitched.

Although rain had not yet fallen at these high alti-
tudes, yet the stream in the Barranca Atenquiqui had
risen greatly, flooding our first camping-place. This
was the last deep gorge on the trail, and, as we came
out upon the high land, we broke into a gallop. Only
eight miles now separated us from Tuxpan, and the

$360 $

THE VOLCANO BY MOONLIGHT 3%

horses shook from their limbs the stiffness of the lone
stretches of walking and climbing, and now raced
eagerly along.

We passed a family of Indians on mule-back, prob-
ably just setting out for Colima, and they told us that
it was after four o’clock; a party of soldiers shouted
to us that it was but two hours past midnight. And so
we were alternately disheartened and encouraged, until
we rounded the last curving hill and saw the rear lights
of the Guadalajara train. It was four o’clock and
we had made the sixty miles in fourteen hours of con-
tinuous riding !

The conductor congratulated My Lady upon her
pluck and daring, and held the train for us as long
as he dared, but still our baggage did not arrive. We
learned later that the irate drunken keeper of the
demolished toll-gate delayed our baggage-mules and
was thus the cause of our missing the train.

As the train rumbled away, we turned and rode
slowly to the Hotel Central, just as the east was bright-
ening with another day. The moon, which had guided
us so steadily through all the might, paled and sank
slowly behind the cone of the voleano.

Days pass, we recross the continent, and our last
Mexican sunset dies out behind the mighty peak of
Orizaba. As our steamer leaves the harbour of Vera
Cruz, the first rocket of the Easter fiesta shoots up-

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

ward, curves, hangs suspended for a moment, and then
bursts into a cloud of coloured stars, and as we pass
the end of the long breakwater, a solitary Mexican
sends a final, musical Adio-os / to us, across the water.

A LUCKY SNAP WITH A CAMERA

CHAPTER XV
HOW WE DID IT

By Mrs. C. William Beebe

sac HEN we decided to spend the winter camp-
ing in the wilds of western Mexico, we
4 were almost as much at sea as to what to
take with us as if we were contemplating
a trip to the planet Mars! In vain did we read books
on Mexico. All had much to say of the interesting

history of the country, of its exports and imports, of
the courtship of the fair sefzoritas, of the cruel bull-
fights, etc., etc. But of the wonderful nature life of
Mexico — searcely a word; and as to advice to any
one wishing to leave the beaten line of travel, and to
camp in the wilderness — there was none.

After infinite deliberation we finally settled upon
an outfit, which proved to be, in most respects, all-
sufficient and which was also inexpensive. We did not
risk buying things in Mexico, for all imported articles
are very expensive there, and many things cannot be
procured at all.

I am sure that any one who has before him (or her)
the delightful prospect of camping in Mexico will find

§ 363 >

TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

many helpful suggestions—and some warnings —
from the way we did it. The warnings, however, I
will try to make serve the useful purpose of pointing
out the way not to go.

If one wishes to travel with the least possible worry
or trouble, and to enjoy unfailing courtesy and delight-
ful service, let him go to Mexico via the Ward Line,
and when once in that country purchase his tickets on
the lines of the Mexican Central Railroad.

When one reaches Mexico one exchanges one’s Amer-
ican money for about two and a fourth times its value
in Mexican coinage, but this sudden increase in numer-
ical amount should not blind one to certain facts which
it is well to keep in mind. Careful inquiries should be
made concerning those States which are bankrupt, or
whose bank-notes are, for some reason, depreciated in
value. All such should be refused.

When striking out into the wilderness, carry few
bills, or none atall, as the Indians are averse to taking
them; though they readily accept small change or
silver pesos. A little change goes a long way in an
Indian village. All large amounts should be carried in
the form of drafts on New York banks, in preference
to ordinary American currency.

With us the first consideration was lightness ; partly
because the Mexican railroads allow only one hundred
and ten pounds of baggage to each person, which is

forty pounds less than is permitted in this country

€ 364 be

all excess baggage being charged for according to the
regular express rates; and also because, after leaving
the railroad, everything must be packed on mule-back
over the steep trails. If one’s husband is a natural-
ist, one necessarily travels with much that is heavy
— photographic plates, bottles of formalin, guns, am-
munition, etc. I always say that our trunks contain
everything except clothing.

I will begin with what one must wear. A man will
find that an ideal costume for camping is a soft felt
hat, a khaki hunting-coat and knickerbockers, canvas
army leggings, ordinary heavy shoes, never, if he
values comfort and peace of mind, high hunting-
boots and long golf stockings. They are both too
warm for the climate of Mexico, as well as affording
excellent lodging-places for fleas and other insects.
A supply of soft blue flannel shirts, such as the West-
ern cowboys wear, will be always comfortable and
useful. Sweaters are necessary, for remember that
this is a winter trip, and, although the days are warm
and one will then hate the very sight of a sweater,
yet the nights in camp are cool and sometimes even
cold.

To the woman who is courageous enough to defy
the expostulations of her friends and to undertake
a camping-trip to Mexico, let me say that I congratulate
her on having before her one of the most unique and
fascinating experiences of her life; that is, if she goes

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TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO

in the proper spirit. And the proper spirit is to be
interested in everything and to have one’s mind firmly
made up to ignore small discomforts. My woman
who goes camping in Mexico will need, beside her
short-skirted travelling suit, — which must be of very
hght weight, — several light shirt-waists. Let me ad-
vise her not to let her enthusiastic husband or brother
(as the case may be) hurry on to camp without linger-
ing in several of the interesting Mexican cities long
enough to get a glimpse of the picturesque Mexican
life. These cities are fascinatingly quaint and foreign,
with their beautiful churches, their lovely little parks,
jardins and plazas, as they are called, and the inter-
esting markets, so characteristic of Mexico. In every
city there is to be found a wonderful flower-market,
where soft-voiced Mexican women sell you gorgeous
bouquets of roses, great golden narcissus, and fragrant
gardenias; and a Thieves’ Market, which is a junk-
shop on a gigantic scale; stolen and second-hand
articles of every conceivable description are brought
here to be sold, and here congregate the most pictur-
esque and typical of the city’s inhabitants.

For all this sight-seeing one needs a few light sum-
mer gowns. They cannot be bought ready-made in
Mexico, and no one has time to parley with a dress-
maker in this land of manana. Neither can one swel-
ter in the warm travelling suit which was a necessity
on the steamer. “ And,” as says the immortal Duchess

& 366 }

; HOW WE DID IT 3

in the “ Alice in Wonderland” books, “the moral of
this is,” take all these needful things with you, for
if you attempt to send home for them they may be
delayed for weeks in the mails, and when they finally
arrive, the duty on a garment sometimes exceeds its
value.

These things, however, are for civilization, — not
for the wilderness,

and before starting out for camp
they should be left with some responsible person in
the city which you make your headquarters. In our
case this was Guadalajara.

Everything which we did not expect to use in camp
was left in a large trunk, while we took with us on
the trail only a steamer trunk and four waterproof
clothing-bags — two of moderate size and two small.
These bags save a surprising amount of weight, and
pack readily on mule-back, as does also a steamer
trunk.

When the last farewell to civilization is said, and
the woman who goes camping sets forth on the trail
to be a wilderness woman indeed, she will find that a
very simple wardrobe will be all that is necessary. First
and most important is a divided skirt of whipcord or
corduroy. No one should attempt to ride side-saddle
over these steep mountain trails ; indeed the woman
who does not intend to ride cross-saddle should never
undertake a camping-trip in the wilds of Mexico. A
short skirt of corduroy (khaki is also good) I found

saci 0G 367 Bonne

& TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3¥sinn:

most useful. Several thin shirt-waists, of a colour which
does not soil easily, are indispensable. I prefer soft
shades of gray and brown, as they are inconspicuous
and harmonize with the rocks and trees. Brilliantine
and alpaca make nice, cool, sensible waists. A pair of
canvas hunting-leggings, like my husband’s, were the
joy and comfort of my life; for whatever Mexico may
lack, it is not thorns! I wore ordinary medium-weight
high shoes. Anything heavier will sorely try one’s
patience on a long, hot tramp in the barrancas. One
must be sure to take plenty of shoes, as they are
exorbitantly expensive in Mexico. A veil or two (or a_
net) to keep the hair from blowing in your face, when
riding horseback, will be found of the greatest comfort.
But I hope my camping woman will not mar her
pleasure by wearing her veil over her face. A wild
gallop over the plains on horseback loses much of its
charm if there is anything between one’s face and
the pure invigorating mountain breezes. And after all,
a little honest tan is a good thing!

But let us proceed to the rest of the outfit. The
house over one’s head is an important thing, so it
is in order to discuss the matter of a tent. We have
always found it a good plan to be generous in respect
to its size—one ten by twelve feet being none too
large for two persons. The cheapest kind of a tent
will suffice; for during the winter season in Mexico,
every day is like Indian summer — bright and cloud-

§ 368 >

less. Hence umbrellas, rain-coats, and rubbers will all
be very much de trop. We did not take tent-poles. A
stout rope stretched between two trees answers every
purpose, which reminds me that, like pins and strings,
rope is a thing of which one can never have too much
when camping.

A brown linen wall-pocket, with ten or twelve par-
titions, will almost take the place of a well-appointed
bureau. It can be pinned to the wall of the tent and
used to hold toilet articles, pins, collars, ete.

A box of Persian insect powder must not be omitted
from your list of necessities. It may not be needed in
camp, but if one has to spend the night in a native
hut, or in a primitive Mexican hotel, which is sure to
be the case, a “bug-gun” and insect powder will be
of priceless value in proving an effectual cure for
insomnia !

And now the question of beds. We used folding-
cots (costing about two dollars each), and I strongly
recommend them in preference to sleeping-bags, for
a climate such as that of Mexico. Nothing is more
comfortable than these cots, and by day they can be
used as writing-desk, or sofa, while on the trail they
are folded to very small compass. For warmth we took
a soft cotton comforter for each person. On the trip
down they were used to pack photographic plates
and bottles. When we left they were bestowed upon
a grateful Mexican. If one finds blankets necessary (as

mums’ TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3ieuus:

will probably be the case, except in the tierra caliente,
or hot lands), they can be purchased very cheaply in
any Mexican store.

One must carry a small cooking outfit, and be sure
that it includes an Abercrombie & Fitch open baker.
This baker makes life worth living in camp, as it
insures all kinds of delicious hot breads. A stove is
always a failure, even though it be warranted to pack
into a thimble. The cooking outfit will include steel
knives, aluminum forks and spoons, plates and cups,
and a small nest of cooking-utensils. A canvas water-
pail is a valuable addition, and a can-opener is always
a necessity. One must be prepared to find one’s appe-
tite trebled within the first week. We went about like
the proverbial “ roaring lion,” seeking what we might
devour ; and we were indeed glad that we had laid in
a good supply of canned and condensed things. Con-
densed soups are good,—especially bean, pea, and
rice; and the addition of boiling water to “Maggi”
bouillon capsules is all that is necessary to create
a perfect consommé. But beware of dried vegetables.

The most delicious chocolate and coffee can be
found everywhere in the country, but it will be wise
to take some milk-powder, which is quite acceptable in
these beverages, for in camp it is sometimes difficult
to get fresh milk.

At Guadalajara we provided ourselves with flour,
baking-powder, canned butter, Cream of Wheat, Ral-

4 HOW WE DID IT %

ston, etc. The canned butter is extremely nice, and
butter is a great luxury in Mexico. The Mexicans
never eat it, and it is impossible to get, except at the
American hotels in the large cities. As for meat, it is
an easy matter to keep the table supplied with birds
and venison.

It is the part of prudence to take a small medicine-
case containing good general remedies, which should
include absolute ammonia, to be used for scorpion or
tarantula bites. The ammonia is used both externally
and internally; for internal use take a few drops in
water every half hour until relieved. This will prob-
ably not be needed, for the danger of scorpion and
tarantula bites in Mexico is much exaggerated ; how-
ever it is well to be on the safe side, remembering the
old adage about the ounce of prevention.

Several candle lanterns (made by the Abercrombie
& Fitch Company) and a supply of candles were added
to our outfit.

We planned for observation and photography rather
than collecting ; so my husband took for general use
only a small-bore (28 gauge) double-barreled shot-gun
and plenty of paper shells, which answered every
requirement, both for providing the table with meat
and for securing birds and other specimens for identi
fication. We took a long-focus, four-by-five Premo
camera and a kodak of the same size, and twenty-four
dozen plates and films; besides ruby lantern and a

$ 371 3

# TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 2

developing outfit, which, although heavy and bulky,
gave results amply repaying all trouble. A trunk made
a good developing-table ; after the sun sank, the whole
canyon became a dark-room; while our washing-tray
was a cavity between two water-worn boulders, through
which rushed the cold stream straight from the melting
snows on the voleano.

To the camping woman should always be given this
warning: See to it that the party is provided with a
cook, that nothing may be expected of her in the way
of cooking and dish-washing. Let her supervise the
cooking — the menu will be vastly improved ; and if she
is gracious to the cook she may succeed in banishing
the national garlic and chili. But have it distinctly
understood that she is camping for pleasure, and that
she does not expect to come home at night, tired after
a long day’s ride or tramp, with the prospect before her
of wrestling with a smoky camp-fire and of washing
dishes by the flickering light of a candle.

I hope every party may be as fortunate in its cook
as we were in ours. He was cook, dish-washer, guide,
and when occasion demanded more fluent Spanish than
was at our command, he was interpreter. The pleasure
of a trip to Mexico will be many times increased by
a knowledge of the Spanish language, even as slight
as that gained from Cortina’s admirable little book
“Spanish in Twenty Lessons;” indeed if you leave
the beaten lines of travel and camp in the country,

ne ef B72 Homme

# HOW WE DID IT 3

this is an absolute necessity, unless you have an inter-
preter.

Both my husband and I had revolvers, and wore
them. All the Mexicans in the wilder parts of the
country wear revolvers, and it is but the part of safety
to do likewise. The Mexicans are much surprised at
seeing a Senorita ride cross-saddle and wear a re-
volver ; so the camping woman must accustom herself
to creating a sensation among’ these simple folk.

I shall never forget the impression I made in the
little city of Colima. After riding many miles on the
trail, we halted before the Chino Hotel, and very dusty
and tired we were. Jumping off my horse, wearing of
course my divided skirt and my revolver, I entered the
patio of the hotel. A forlorn little Frenchman and his
wife were dining in the patio, as were many Mexicans,
and their astonishment at my appearance was ludicrous.
A Mexican woman will often take a pipe from her
mouth to express shock and surprise at a Senorita
riding cross-saddle!

It was long before I could accustom myself not to
start with surprise when I was invited to smoke. Even
the clerks in the hotels will offer a woman a box of
cigarettes as soon as she arrives, asking very politely
“ Desea Vd. fumar?” —Doyou wish to smoke ? This
courtesy is to the Mexican as natural as for an Ameri-
can gentleman to offer a woman his chair.

There is much to amuse those of us who are blessed

é 373 de

= TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO 3

with a sense of humour, and much to charm and in-
terest every one in this strange land, which is yet so
near a neighbour of ours.

As to horseback, my theory is that all one has to do
is to get on and ride. I have little patience with spend-
ing months learning to ride. I had never ridden before,
but I simply got on and rode off. Of course for the
first few times one cannot ride long distances, but that
soon comes with a little practice. The rule for a good
dancer applies equally to a good rider —do not be
rigid, let yourself go. In the case of riding let your-
self go with your horse, and above all, do not be afraid.
Pluck and a philosophic spirit will soon make a good
rider, and a good camper, and a very happy person
indeed.

We did not burden ourselves with carrying our own
saddles. We found the Mexican saddles comfortable,
provided you see to it that you get one the stirrups
of which can be lengthened or shortened at will. We
hired our animals and when we had made camp, sent
them home with the guide, with orders to return every
few days with our mail and with oranges, lemons, and
other supplies.

Though I were to write a volume I could not ade-
quately picture the great charm of our wild free life in
camp! One lives so near the heart of Nature, and in
this simple natural life learns many a great truth. The
pure joy of life itself is ever present. Every possible

3 HOW WE DID IT %

trouble or perplexity seems a thing of the past —
almost left in another world. What matters anything
in this great wild country — the day nor the hour nor
the year are of any account. What a glorious thing 1s
a cold plunge in early morning in the swift-flowing
river near the tent, where the night before the deer
drank, and along which all the furtive wild creatures of
the night stealthily made their way in the moonlight.
Here one feels how good a thing it is to be alive, to
be hungry and to eat, to be weary and to sleep.

APPENDIX

APPENDIX

LIST OF BIRDS OBSERVED ON OUR MEXICAN TRIP

HE following list, omitting the birds which we
observed in Cuba, includes all the more com-
mon species which would be observed by any one
making such a trip to Mexico. I have followed
the classification of the American Ornithologists’

Union Check-List.

The delicate variations which at present are being recognized in
the delineation of species and especially of subspecies of birds,
although necessary in their function of aiding our knowledge of
distribution and the effects of environment, yet render the exact
identification of living birds an impossibility in some instances. But
the residential and non-migratory habits of many Mexican species
and their unusual fearlessness are very great helps to one who
for the first time undertakes to observe the birds of this country.
Whenever I have given brief descriptions, I have endeavored to use
the characteristics which are instantly apparent in a quick glance
with a glass or with the unaided eye. Where the description occurs
in the body of the book, it is not repeated, but the reference is given.

The majority of these notes were made in the States of Jalisco
and Colima in west-central Mexico. The dates and localities coin-
cide approximately as follows : —

Guadalajara, —the first half of January and the first half of
March.

Chapala and its marshes, — the latter half of March.

The higher or upper barrancas, near the eastern slope of the
volcano of Colima, — the latter half of January.

€ 379 $

; APPENDIX 3

The lower barrancas, near the southern slopes of the voleano, —
the first half of February.

The hot lowlands west of the voleano, and the coastal region of
the State of Colima, — the latter half of February.

WESTERN GREBE. chmophorus occidentalis (Lawy.). pp. 75, 110.
This master-diver is the largest of our Grebes, and is grayish
above and silvery-white below. It has a long, pointed bill and
a neck as long as the entire body. About a dozen were seen on
Lake Chapala in March. The natives occasionally snare these
birds (how, I could not learn), and offer their beautiful silky
breasts for sale.
Least GREBE. Colymbus dominicus brachypterus Chapm. pp.
119, 123.

The smallest of North American Grebes. They were not un-
common on the large ponds of the marshes near Chapala. Their
short wings and spattering attempts to rise in flight made them
appear like the inexperienced young of some species of water
bird. The Mexicans think that they are young ducks which, by
some ‘“ seventh son of a seventh son” sort of magic, are differ-
ent from their fellows and learned of the devil, being unharm-
able by their shot or bullets.

Prep-BILLED GREBE. Podilymbus podiceps (Linn.). p. 123.

The common “ Dabchick”’ of our Northern mill-ponds winters
on Lake Chapala and on many of the other lakes and ponds in
the vicinity of Guadalajara.

Loon, or Great NorTHerN Diver. Gavia imber (Gunn.). pp. 2,
110.

Three of these splendid birds showed themselves to us on the
waters of Lake Chapala at the time of our visit, all in the dull
plumage of winter, but with their weird cry as clear and thrill-
ing as when uttered on the Bay of Fundy through the keen fog
of early morning. We saw and heard these birds far out on the
open Atlantic on our trip down.

APPENDIX :

Herrine Guru. Larus argentatus Brinn. p. 2.

Common in the harbour of Vera Cruz, and on the open ocean.
Rinc-BILLED Guu. Larus delawarensis Ord. p. 2.

Frequently seen on the ocean.
Bonaparte Guuu. Larus philadelphia (Ord).

Numerous on Lake Chapala in March, in company with other,
unidentified gulls.

Buack PETREL. Oceanodroma melania (Bonap.).

The small blackish petrels which we saw off shore at Manza-
nillo were doubtless of this species.

Witson PETREL. Oceanites oceanicus (Kuhl). pp. 2, 19.

On Christmas Day several storm-blown individuals were seek-
ing shelter behind low weeds on the beach, north of the city of
Vera Cruz. They were frequently seen from the steamer on the
open Atlantic.

Rep-FooTeD Boosy. Sula nedbouxti Milne-Edwards. p. 335.

Many of these Boobies were fishing near shore in Manzanillo
harbour, during our visit. They were very fearless and came
close overhead, occasionally, as they flew, rubbing one of their
red feet against the other.

Boosy. Sula sula (Linn.). p. 12.

Numbers were seen between Progreso and Vera Cruz, near
the Arcos Islands.

Gannet. Sula bassana (Linn.). p. 2.

Gannets were occasionally seen from the steamer’s deck all
the way from Cape Hatteras to Vera Cruz.

SNAKE-BIRD, or DartER. Anhinga anhinga (Linn.).

One or two were seen on the marshes of Chapala. A Mexi-
can told us that these birds had become much rarer than they
formerly were.

Mexican Cormorant. Phalacrocorax mexicanus (Brandt). pp.
18, 123, 190, 217.

Abundant on Lake Chapala and on all the rivers and streams

down to the lowlands of Colima. Their food in the barran-

é 381 >

cas is partly vegetable, not exclusively fish. When on the wing
they are not distinguishable from our northern Double-crested
or from the Florida Cormorants.
AMERICAN WuitE Pexican. Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Gmel.
p- 110.
A large number were reported as wintering on Lake Chapala,
but only a few were seen.
Brown Pexican. Pelecanus occidentalis (Linn.). pp. 4, 18.
Three were seen near Vera Cruz on Christmas Day weather-
ing a norther ; and again three flew over the city at Easter.
Cairornia Brown Penican. Pelecanus californicus Ridgw. p.
Several were seen, flying or perching among the islets in the
Pacific off Manzanillo. The living birds were not distinguish-
able from the eastern Pelicans.
Man-o’-War Birp. Fregata aquila Linn. pp. 5, 6.
One was seen flying before a storm at Vera Cruz.
Mauiarp. Anas boschas Linn. pp. 73, 118, 123, 190.
Very abundant on the marshes of Chapala and on the streams
and ponds from the tableland to the low Pacific coastal region.
GapWwaLL. Chaulelasmus streperus (Linn.). p. 118.
Abundant on the marshes of Lake Chapala.
BaLppats, or AMERICAN WipeE0N. Mareca americana (Gmel.).
p- 114.
Abundant on the Chapala marshes.
GREEN-WINGED TEAL. Nettion carolinensis (Gmel.).
Very abundant on the marshes of Lake Chapala.
BLvE-wIncED TEAL. Querquedula discors (Linn.). pp. 73, 119,
123.
Cinnamon TEAL. Querquedula cyanoptera (Vieill.). pp. 74, 119,
191.
These two species were abundant on the Lake Chapala
marshes and along the rivers and small streams of the Western
barrancas to sea-level. The Cinnamon Teal is a Western bird,

§ 382 >

= APPENDIX 3

closely allied to our Blue-wing, but with the head, neck, breast,
and sides bright cinnamon. These two little ducks divide the
United States between them in the summer, but flock south to-
gether during cold weather.

SHOVELLER Duck. Spatula clypeata (Linn.). pp. 73, 119, 123.

Found on the Chapala marshes and small water pools on the
tableland.

Pintait Duck. Dafila acuta (Linn.). pp. 73, 114, 119.

Found in large numbers on Lake Chapala. The migration
northward had begun in February.

Canvas-BAck Duck. Aythya vallisneria (Wils.). p. 119.

Four were observed on the Chapala marshes.

Lesser Scaure Ducn. Aythya affinis (Eyt.). pp. 4, 113, 119,
123.

Common at Chapala and on small ponds on the tableland.
All that were examined in the hand were affinis.

Snow Goosg. Chen hyperborea (Pall.). pp. 120, 121.
WHITE-FRONTED Goose. Anser albifrons (Gmel.). pp. 119, 120.

We saw large flocks of these two species of Geese on the
Chapala marshes. About the middle of March they were start-
ing northward in great numbers.

RosEaTeE SPOONBILL. Ajaia ajaia (Linn.).

Two individuals of this beautiful species were seen in the hot
lowlands of the Pacific coast.

Wuire Isis. Guara alba (Linn.). p. 316.

A flock of eleven birds haunted a stream near our camp in
the lowlands of Colima.

Wuite-racep Guossy Isis. Plegadis guarauna (Linn.). pp. 75,
81, 82, 119, 123.

We saw many flocks of fifty or more of these birds on the
Chapala marshes; others near Guadalajara and on the wayside
pools from La Barca to Tuxpan.

Woop Isis. Tantalus loculator Linn. pp. 5, 332.
These birds, ugly of mien, but magnificent in flight, were

abundant in the lowlands of Colima and in the dreaded lagoon
near Manzanillo.
Great Buus Heron. Ardea herodias Linn. pp. 78, 86, 118, 123,
332.
This bird was seen on all lakes, ponds, and streams in Jalisco
and Colima; and occasionally even in the deserts.
American Eerer. Herodias egretta (Gmel.). pp. 78, 79, 110, 123.
Quite common at Chapala and at Agua Azul near Guadalajara.
Reppisoh Eeret. Dichromanassa rufescens (Gmel.). p. 118.
Several were observed near Lake Chapala.
Louristana Heron. Hydranassa tricolor ruficollis (Gosse).
Abundant at Chapala.
Littte Brus Heron. Florida cerulea (Linn.). pp. 302, 315.
Several in the white juvenile plumage were seen in the low-
lands of Colima.
Lirrte Green Heron. Butorides virescens (Linn.). pp. 78, 123.
Abundant on all ponds and streams in Jalisco and Colima,
from tableland to coast. Whether they were of the subspecific
form anthonyi, I am unable to state.
BLAcK-CROWNED Nigut Heron. Nycticorax nycticorax nevius
(Bodd.).
Two individuals were noted in a barranca near the voleano of
Colima. One was shot, while I was catering for our larder, by
a stray pellet from a charge fired at a flock of doves.
Boar-BibLED Heron. Canchroma zeledoni Ridgw. pp. 325, 326.
Not uncommon in the swamps and along the streams of the
hot lands of Colima.
SANDHILL CRANE. Grus mexicana (Mill.).
Several were seen from the train near Tuxpan.
Puree Gauinute. Jonornis martinica (Linn.). p. 123.
AmeERICAN Coot. Fulica americana Gmel. pp. 73, 74, 118, 118,
123.
Both these birds were quite common in the vicinity of streams
and ponds near Guadalajara.

summed B34. Sornrens

BuacK-NECKED Stint. Himantopus meaicanus (Miill.). pp. 77,
118, 123.
Also common on streams and ponds near Guadalajara.
Witson Snipe. Gallinago delicata (Ord.). pp. 19, 103.
Several were seen near Guadalajara and on the beach near
Vera Cruz.
GREATER YELLOW-LEGS. Totanus melanoleucus (Gmel.) p. 118.
YELLOW-LEGS. Totanus flavipes (Gmel.). p. 118.
Both birds abundant on the ponds and lakes of the tableland.
SotiraRy Sanppirer. Helodromas solitarius (Wils.). pp. 134,
135, 136.
Abundant on the tableland and in the barrancas.
SpoTTED SANDPIPER. <Actitis macularia (Linn.).
Common on the ponds about Guadalajara.
LonG-BILLED CurLEW. Numenius longirostris Wils. p. 118.
Quite common on the marshes about Chapala.
KILLDEER. Oxyechus vociferus (Linn.). pp. 19, 117, 134.
Common everywhere in the barrancas and in the lowlands of
Colima. Four were seen on the beach at Vera Cruz.
Mexican Jacana. Jacana spinosa (Linn.). pp. 79, 80, 123.
Fairly common on ponds about Guadalajara.
Grayson Bos-Wuirte. Colinus graysoni (Lawr.). p. 252.
Heard among the pines on the volcano of Colima.
Scatep Partrringre. Callipepla squamata (Vig.). p. 268.
Common in the lowlands of Colima.
Wactier Cuacnaraca. Ortalis wagleri (Gray). pp. 324, 328.
Several seen in the lowlands of Colima.
Banp-raILteED Piaron. Columba fasciata Say. p. 292.
Abundant in the lowlands of Colima.
Mournine Dove. Zenaidura macrowra (Linn.). pp. 104, 185, 218.
Abundant everywhere.
Wuire-rronteD Dove. Leptotila fulviventris brachyptera (Sal-
vadore). pp. 218, 250.
Abundant in the barrancas.

§ 385 >

APPENDIX

Wauite-winceD Dove. WMelopelia leucoptera (Linn.). pp. 292,
302.
Very abundant in the hot lands of Colima.
Mexican Grounp Dove. Colwmbigallina passerina pallescens
(Baird). p. 185.
Inca Dove. Scardafella inca (Less.). pp. 61, 185.
These last two doves were very common throughout Jalisco
and Colima.
Turkey VuLtuRE. Cathartes aura (Linn.). pp. 61, 88, 89, 214,
215.
Brack VuuturE. Catharista urubu (Vieill.). pp. 25, 88, 89,
214, 215.
Both kinds of vultures were everywhere very abundant.
Marsh Hawk. Circus hudsonius (Linn.). pp. 21, 45.
Very abundant on the tableland.
Western Rep-rartep Hawk. Buteo borealis calwrus (Cass.). pp-
76, 138.
Not uncommon.
Sennerr Wurre-Taitep Hawk. Buteo albicaudatus sennetti
Allen. p. 117.
Two individuals were observed, one near Chapala and one
near the village of Tuxpan.
Mexican Buack Hawk. Urubitinga anthracina (Licht.). pp. 135,
136, 137, 139, 250, 316.
Common in the barrancas and in the low country.
Mexican Gosnawk. Asturina plagiata Schlegel. pp. 137, 139,
140.
Lavenine Faucon. Herpetotheres cachinnans Vieill. pp. 320,
324, 328.
Both of these birds were not uncommon in the barrancas and
lowlands of Colima.
Desert Sparrow Hawk. Falco sparverius phalena (Lesson).
pp. 21, 32, 42, 45, 51, 57, 94.
Very abundant everywhere.
& 386 }

AUDUBON CARACARA. Polyborus cheriway (Jacq.). pp. 117, 214,
250, 257, 292, 293, 294.
Abundant everywhere.
AMERICAN Barn Own. Strix pratincola Bonap. p. 278.
Observed both near Guadalajara and in the lowlands of Colima.
Burrowine Own. Speotyto cunicularia hypogea (Bonap.). pp.
101, 102.
Common about Guadalajara.
(Several other species of Owls were seen but could not be
identified. One very probably was Ciccaba squamulata.)
THICK-BILLED Parrot. Rhyncopsitta pachyrhyncha (Swains.).
p- 252.
Common in the barrancas on the slopes of the voleano of
Colima.
Finsch AmMAzonN Parrot. Amazona finschi (Sel.). pp. 182, 183.
Common in the barrancas and in the low regions about Colima.
RED-AND-BLUE-HEADED PARRAKEET. Conurus canicularis (Linn.).
pp. 178, 181.
Numerous in the barrancas and in the lowlands.
Mizirary Macaw. Ara militaris (Linn.). pp. 173, 174, 249, 263,
283.
Common in the barrancas and in the lowlands.
GROOVE-BILLED ANI. Crotophaga sulcirostris Swains. p. 322.
Abundant in the lowlands of Colima. Their favourite food
seemed to be hemiptera, daddy-long-legs, and small berries.
RoaDRUNNER. Gieococcyx californianus (Less.). pp. 177, 178, 232.
Common in all the desert regions.
Rurous Cuckoo. Piaya mexicana (Swains.). pp. 176, 177, 178.
Rare in the barraneas. Abundant in the tropical lowlands.
CoprERY-TAILED Trogon. Trogon ambiguus Gould. pp. 184, 249,
250.
Rather common in the higher barrancas of Colima.
YELLOW-BELLIED Trocon. Trogon citreolus Gould. pp. 304, 305.
Common in the tropical parts of Colima.

é 387 &

APPENDIX

Mexican Mormor. Momotus mexicanus Swains. pp. 198-206, 305.
Common in the barrancas and in the lowlands of Colima.
Bertep KinerisHer. Ceryle alcyon (Linn.). pp. 72, 317.
Common near Guadalajara and occasionally seen in the tropics
of Colima.
RvuFous-BELLIED KinGrIsHER. Ceryle torquata (Linn.). p. 318.
Not uncommon along the streams of the lowlands of Colima.
Texas, or Lirrne Green KinerisHer. Ceryle americana septen-
trionalis Sharpe. pp. 142-146, 317, 318.
Rather rare about Guadalajara. Common in the barrancas in
the hot country.
GUATEMALAN WooDPECKER. Campephilus guatemalensis
(Hartl.). p. 288.
Six observed in the low country of Colima.
SryatoA LApDDER-BACKED WoopDPECKER. Dryobates scalaris si-
naloensis Ridgw. p. 249.
Rarely seen in the lower barrancas about the voleano.
Mexican PireateD WoopPECKER. Ceophleus scapularis (Vig.).
p- 208.
Not uncommon in the barrancas. ,
Execant Wooprecker. Melanerpes elegans (Swains.). pp. 146,
147, 148.
Common among the barrancas.
Gita WooprrcKER. Centurus uropygialis Baird.
A pair seen near the volcano.
Mexican Goatsucker. Vyctibius jamaicensis mexicanus Nelson.
pp. 197, 198.
Three flew past me near a stream in one of the lower barran-
cas of Colima.
Paravaue. Nyctidromus albicollis (Gmel.). p. 303.
Very abundant in the lowlands of Colima.
Mexican WHIP-POOR-WILL. Antrostomus macromystox (Wagl.).
p- 220.

Several seen in the barraneas.

& 388 >

Ripgway WHIP-POOR-WILL. Antrostomus ridgwayi Nelson. pp.
218, 219.
Two seen in a barranca near the volcano.
NieutTuawk. Chordeiles sp.?
Not uncommon in the lowlands of Colima.
Costa Humminesirp. Calypte coste (Boure.). p. 56.

Many were seen in the ditches about Guadalajara, January

1st to 8th, but not one observed after that date.
BLUE-CROWNED Humminesirp. Cyanomyia verticalis, (Licht.).
p- 96.

Very abundant. Associated with the Broad-billed Humming-
bird.

Rurovs Humminesirp. Selusphorus rufus (Gmel.). p. 56.

Common about Guadalajara.

BrRoaD-BILLED Humminepirp. ache latirostris (Swains.). p.
96.

Common in the barrancas near Guadalajara.

FOoRE-TAILED, or GOLDEN-BACKED HumMINGBIRD. Chlorostilbon
auriceps (Gould). pp. 150, 151.

Very abundant in the lower barrancas about the volcano of
Colima.

Xantus Becarp. Platypsaris albiventris (Lawr.). p. 331.

Several seen near our camp in the lowlands of Colima.

GRAY-HEADED Tiryra. Tityra personata griseiceps Ridgw. p.
231.

Fairly common in the lower arroyos of Colima. Their fa-
vourite food was a berry with triangular pits, together with large
grasshoppers.

Swarnson Woop-HEWER. Dendrornis flavigaster (Swains.). pp.
323, 324.
Several individuals observed in the coastal region of Colima.
Cassin Kinesirp. Tyrannus vociferans Swains. p. 189.

This yellow-bellied Kingbird was common about the streams

in the barrancas.

€ 389 do

APPENDIX 3

Pirancua Tyrant. Megarhynchus pitangua (Linn.). pp. 189,
190, 249.

This giant Flycatcher was common everywhere from four
thousand feet elevation to sea-level in Colima.

DerBy FiycatcHer. Pitangus derbianus (Kaup). pp. 155, 156,
163, 189.

Abundant everywhere, especially along the streams.

GirAup FiycaTcHeR. Myiozetetes similis superciliosus (Bonap.).
p- 189.

Rather rare in the upper Colima barrancas. Smaller than
the Cassin Kingbird and very striking in its colouration, —
greenish above, bright yellow below, with a very distinct
white throat and line encircling the crown, which latter is fiery
red.

ASH-THROATED FrycatTcHEeR. Myiarchus cinerascens (Lawr.).
pp- 76, 187.

Very abundant, especially on the tableland deserts, among the
cactus.

QueruLous FrycarcHer. Myiarchus lawrenceti querulus Nelson.
p. 187.

Common about camp in the lower arroyos of the voleano. A
small, long-billed bird dressed in quiet hues.

Brack Puase. Sayornis nigricans (Swains.). pp. 186, 192, 209,
211.

Abundant everywhere along streams from the tableland to
the Pacific.

Ouive-sIpep FrycatcHer. Nuttallornis borealis (Swains.).

Two of these old friends of the North came under our obser-
vation at Coquimatlan in the lowlands of Colima.

Swarnson FiycatcHer. Horizopus musicus (Swains.). p. 187.

A pheebe-like species common about our camps in the upper
and lower barraneas of the volcano.

Least FrycatcuEr. Empidonax minimus Baird. p. 188.
A small, loose flock observed several times near camp in a

§ 390 >

* APPENDIX

lower barranca; the only flycatchers which seemed to remain
together in any association which could be called a flock.

VERMILION FuycatcHEr. Pyrocephalus rubineus mexicanus
(Sel.). pp. 70, 71, 91, 92, 98, 187.

Very abundant everywhere on the tableland all across the
continent ; less so at lower elevations in Colima.

BEARDLEss Fiycatcurer. Ornithion imberbe (Scl.). p. 190.

Several seen in the lower barrancas of Colima feeding on tiny
berries. These birds were very wary.

Lone-TaiLeD Buvur Jay, or Magpie Jay. Calocitta colliei (Vig.).
pp- 174, 175, 176, 178, 320.

Abundant from Tuxpan (about four thousand feet) to the sea-
level in Colima.

AMERICAN Raven. Corvus corax sinuatus (Wagl.). pp. 75,
86.

Rarely seen about Guadalajara and in the barrancas of the
volcano.

WHITE-NECKED RAVEN. Corvus eryptoleucus Couch. p. 104.

Very abundant on the deserts of the tableland.

Mexican Crow. Corvus mexicanus Gmel.

Several seen in Vera Cruz.

Cowszirp. Molothrus sp.? pp. 32, 117.

Unidentified birds were in the same flocks with the Red-
eyes.

RED-EYED CowszrIrp. Callothrus robustus (Cab.). p. 117.

Great flocks of these birds were common at Chapala and
along the line of the Mexican Central Railroad in western
Mexico.

YELLOW-HEADED Briacksirp. Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
(Bonap.). pp. 64, 65, 115, 116.
Very abundant about Guadalajara and Chapala.
BicoLouRED Buacksirp. Agelaius gubernator californicus Nel-
son. pp. 115, 116.
Immense flocks were feeding in the Chapala marshes.

APPENDIX

Mexroan MrapownarK. Sturnella magna mexicana (Scl.). pp.
114, 115, 116, 349.

Common at Chapala and in the fields and along the trails in
the lowlands of Colima.

Mexican Cacique. Cassiculus melanicterus (Bonap.). pp. 284,
285.

Very abundant in the lowlands of Colima. Rare in the upper
barrancas around the voleanos. A large unidentified species of
Oriole or Cacique was seen twice in the low country.

Wacuer Ort0Le. Icterus wagleri Sel. p. 149.

Abundant in the barrancas about Guadalajara and from Tux-
pan to the Pacific.

Arizona Hoopep Ortorz. Icterus cucullatus nelsoni Ridg.

One individual seen at Tuxpan.

Boriock Oriore. Icterus bullocki (Swains.).

Four seen near Guadalajara.

Brewer Buiacksrrp. Luphagus cyanocephalus (Wagl.). p. 61.

This beautiful blue-black bird was abundant in the cities, as-
sociating in flocks with the Boat-tails.

GREAT-TAILED, or BoAT-TAILED GRACKLE. Megaquiscalus major
subsp.? pp. 61, 72.

This bird, in one of its subspecific forms, was abundant in all
the western towns and cities which we visited.

Currnavaca House Fincw. Carpodacus mexicanus rhodocolpus
(Caban.). pp. 46, 62.

Very abundant in and about Guadalajara.

ARKANSAS GoLpFINcH. Astragalinus psaltria (Say).

A small flock were observed in an upper barranca of Colima,
feeding on the eggs of insects.

Mexican Goxprincy. Astragalinus psaltria mexicanus
(Swains.). p. 99.

Several seen near Guadalajara.

Forrer Siskin. Spinus notatus forrert (Salv. & Godm.). p. 252.

Rarely seen among the pines on the upper slopes of the

voleano. A beautifully marked bird,— green, yellow, and
black.

WESTERN GRAsSSHOPPER SpaRRow. Coturniculus savannarum
bimaculatus (Swains.). p. 51.

Rarely seen about Guadalajara.

Western LARK Sparrow. Chondestes grammacus strigatus
(Swains.). pp. 45, 55.
Very abundant about Guadalajara.
Ciay-coLouRED Sparrow. Spizella pallida (Swains.). pp. 45,
51.
Very common about Guadalajara.
BREWER Sparrow. Spizella breweri Cass. p. 94.

A flock of these birds were seen near Guadalajara. One, with
a diseased foot, was found dead.

Cotma Grounp Sparrow. Aimophila acuminata Salv. & Godm.
p- 348.

A very handsome black-and-white-headed sparrow ; extremely
fearless and seen in great flocks along the old Spanish road
from the city of Colima to Tonila.

Lincotn Sparrow. Melospiza lincolnii (Aud.). p. 102.

One found entangled in a thorn-bush near Guadalajara. This
was the only specimen seen on our trip.

Xantus GRounp Sparrow. Melozone rubricatum sxantusti
(Lawr.). p. 249.

Often seen in the bottoms of the lower barrancas, where a
single individual would make a great racket, scratching like
a Towhee among the dead leaves. Its bright rufous cap and
conspicuous white eye-ring made it easy to identify.

SivaLoa Sparrow. Arremonops superciliosus sinaloe Nelson-
p- 308.

Not uncommon in the lowlands of Colima. Not distinguish-

able in life from the Texas sparrow of our Southwestern States.
Brown Towner. Pipilo fuscus Swains. pp. 52, 113.
Very common in and about Guadalajara and Tuxpan.

cnmnmne 393. pone

GREEN-TAILED TowHEE. Oreospiza chlorura (Aud.). p. 52.
Common about Guadalajara.
Arizona PyrruvuLoxia. Pyrrhuloxia sinuata Bonap. p. 47.
A pair of these beautiful birds were seen in a Guadalajara
ditch.
BLACcK-HEADED GrosBEAK. Zamelodia melanocephala (Swains.).
pp. 308, 349.
Common along the Colima trail from that city to the voleano.
The most abundant of all the Pringillide in the lowlands of
the coastal region of Colima.
WESTERN BLUE GrRosBEAK. Guiraca cerulea lazula (Lesson).
p. 050.
Fairly common in all the barrancas of the voleano of Colima.
The males were in beautiful plumage early in February.
Variep Buntine. Cyanospiza versicolor (Bonap.). pp. 195, 350.
Common only along the edges of the barranca streams and
on the Colima trail, in company with flocks of Black-headed
Grosbeaks.
Parntep Bunting, or NonpaREIL. Cyanospiza ciris (Linn.). p.
349.
One male flew across the Colima trail before us.
LecuancHer, or Rarnpow Buntine. Cyanospiza leclancheri
(Lafres.). p. 321.
Common in the Colima lowlands. Rare in the lower barran-
cas of the volcano.
TURQUOISE-FRONTED BuNTING. Cyanocompsa parellina indigo-
tica Ridgw. p. 308.
Not uncommonly found with the Leclancher. The dull brown
females were especially abundant.
Gopman EvpHonta. HLuphonia godmani Brewst. p. 194.
Several small flocks observed in a grove of wild fig-trees near
a stream in a lower reach of one of the barrancas.
Louisiana Tanacer. Piranga ludoviciana (Wils.). p. 149.
Two or three seen in the higher barrancas of Colima.

& 394 >

APPENDIX

Hepatic Tanacer. Piranga hepatica Swains. p. 308.
Not uncommon near water in the lowlands of Colima.
Summer Tanacer. Piranga rubra (Linn.). p. 208.
Two pairs frequented our camp in a lower barranca of the
volcano.
Barn Swatiow. Hirundo erythrogastra Bodd. pp. 107, 108.
Several seen in the village of La Barca, where they were be-
ginning to nest late in March.
VIOLET-GREEN SwALLow. Tachycineta thalassina (Swains.). pp.
107, 191.
Very abundant along the upper barranca streams.
WHITE-RUMPED SHRIKE. Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides
(Swains.). pp. 32, 51, 94, 130.
Common everywhere on the tableland.
Cassin ViREO. Vireo solitarius cassinit (Xantus).
One bird shot in the Barranca Atenquiqui.
Buack-caPrpeD ViREO. Vireo atricapillus Woodh. p. 300.
Abundant near camp in the lowlands. These birds were dap-
per little insect hunters, green-backed, black-capped, and white-
breasted.
YELLOW-BELLIED VirEO. Vireo hypochryseus Sel. p. 154.
Fairly common in the upper barrancas.
Buack AND WHITE Warsier. Mniotilta varia (Linn.). p.
307.
One seen in a thick jungle in the Colima coast region.
Vircinia Warsier. Helminthophila virginie (Baird). p. 155.
Very common about our camp in an upper barranea.
NasHvitLE Warsier. Helminthophila rubricapilla (Wils.). p.
300.

At times there were twenty and thirty in sight at once near

our camp in the Colima lowlands.
Lurescent WARBLER. Helminthophila celata lutescens (Ridgw.).
p. 52.
Quite common in the Guadalajara ditches.

§ 395 >

APPENDIX 3

YELLOw WarsiEr. Dendroica estiva (Gmel.).
Fairly common during two days of our stay in the lowlands
of Colima.
AUDUBON WaRrBLER. Dendroica auduboni (Towns.). pp. 60, 61;
154, 252.
Abundant in every village and city which we visited and
among the pines on the volcano of Colima.
BLACK-THROATED Gray WARBLER. Dendroica nigrescens.
(Towns.). p. 204.
One seen in a wild portion of a lower barranca of Colima.
TowNsenD WARBLER. Dendroica townsendi (Towns.). p. 300.
Not uncommon in the lowlands of Colima.
LovistanA Warer-Turusu. Seiurus motacilla (Vieill.). p. 315.
Rare in the upper barranca streams; common near water in
the Colima lowlands.
DuBus Rep-preastep Cuat. Granatellus venustus Bonap. p.
290.
Fairly common in the hot lands.
PILEOLATED WARBLER. Wilsonia pusilla pileolata (Pall.). pp.
100, 204, 249.
Common at every elevation in all kinds of country, — desert,
jungle, and canyon.
Paintep Repstart. Setophaga picta Swains. pp. 246, 249, 308.
Abundant and conspicuous in the lower barraneas, at an ele-
vation of two thousand feet and lower.
Ducts WARBLER. Basileuterus rufifrons dugest Ridgw. p. 195.
Very rare and local in an arroyo near the Colima volcano.
Western Mocxinepirp. Mimus polyglottos leucopterus (Vigors).
pp- 55, 94, 130, 239.
Abundant in the chaparral about Guadalajara and in the
upper barrancas.
CURVE-BILLED THRASHER. Toxostoma curvirostre (Swains.). pp.
93, 113, 129.

Common in the “cactus country.”
v4 >,
& 396 >

APPENDIX 3

Mexican Cacrus Wren. Heleodytes brunneicapillus obscurus
Nelson. p. 95.

Common in the mesquite about Guadalajara. One was shot
with large swellings on its feet and legs; perhaps from injuries
received from spines and thorns.

Oak Forrest Wren. Heleodytes gularis (Scl.). p. 307.

Found in colonies of about six, which kept together in some
favourite portion of the jungle near running water in the tropical
lowlands.

Mexican Canyon WREN. Catherpes mexicanus (Swains.). pp.
62, 140, 142, 149, 161, 217, 257, 263.
Common in Guadalajara and in the upper barrancas.
Smuvatoa Wren. Thryophilus sinaloa Baird. p. 101.

Occasional in the barrancas near Guadalajara. Their last
year’s nests were very common. Several unidentified house-
wren-like species were observed in the barrancas.

Luoyp Busn-Tir. Psaltriparus melanotis lloydi (Sennett). p. 94.

Several were seen in the mesquite near Guadalajara. Saw one
killed and left by a shrike.

WESTERN GNATCATCHER. Polioptila cerulea obscura Ridgw.
pp- 100, 101, 154.
Abundant everywhere.
Mazatian Soniraire. Ifyadestes obscurus occidentalis Stejn.
pp. 247, 248, 250.
Rather rare in one of the lower barrancas of the volcano.
JaLisco Catuarus. Catharus melpomene clarus Jouy.

Several seen in a small grove of trees in a lower reach of a
barranca bordering the hot lands of Colima.

Western Rosin. Merula migratoria propinqua Ridgw. p. 194.

Several were seen in the barrancas and near small streams in
the lowlands.

RED-BACKED Rosin, or YELLOW-BILLED Rosin. Merula flavi-
rostris Swains. p. 306.
Common in the lowlands.

& 397 &

GRAY-BREASTED Rosin. Merula tristis Swains. p. 306.

Rather rare, associated with the Red-backed species.
Buuesirp. Sialia sialis (Linn.). p. 252.

Common among the pines on the upper slopes of the voleano.

LIST OF MAMMALS
Mexican Opossum. Didelphis mesamericana Oken. pp. 276, 277,
282, 295.

Not uncommon in the barrancas and abundant in the Colima

lowlands.
NINE-BANDED ARMADILLO. Tatu novemcinctum (Linn.). pp. 225,
236, 237, 258, 276, 282.
Abundant everywhere from the tableland to the Pacific.
CottarED Prccary. Tayassu angulatum humerale Merriam.
pp- 328, 330.

Several individuals seen in the lowlands. The natives say
that they are harmless.

Mexican Derr. Odocoileus sp.? pp. 207, 220, 258, 360.

Common, especially in the upper barrancas. I captured alive,
in Jalisco, and brought back to New York, a young buck, which
is without doubt the Nelson Deer, Odocotleus nelsoni (Merr.).

Buack-FACED Brocker. Mazama sartorii (Saussure). pp. 328-
330.

I saw a pair of the horns of this small deer in the possession
of an Indian, but we could not induce him to part with them.
He told me that the animal had been shot a few miles to the
southward.

Tapir. Tapirella bairdii (Gill).

Said to be not uncommon a few miles west from our camp in
the hot country.

Mexican Gray Squirren. Sciwrus poliopus cervicalis (Allen).
p- 288.

Common in burrows in the coastal region of Colima. A large,

very dark, or black squirrel was twice seen in a lower barranca.

FLYING-SQUIRRELS (or a species of mouse with great leaping
power). pp. 224, 256.
Occasionally seen at night in the barrancas. Never identified.
RED-BELLIED GROUND SQurrREL. Citellus annulatus (Aud. &
Bach.). pp. 70, 288, 289, 292.

Very abundant, living in the erevices of cliffs about Guadala-

jara and in the low country of Colima.
MEXICAN SPERMOPHILE. Citellus mexicanus (Erxleben). pp. 59,
288.
Common in burrows in the Guadalajara ditches.
JALisco PoucuEp Rar. Liomys sp.? pp. 58, 59.

Very abundant associated with the above. At least five spe-
cies of wild mice were common near all our camps. Our skins
and skulls were lost by an accident.

Jaauar. Felis hernandesii (Gray). pp. 257, 330.

Occasionally heard roaring in the lower barrancas. Their skins
were now and then brought into the villages in the low regions
of Colima. In the isolated haciendas they were said to kill the
cattle.

TigER-Cat, or OceLor. Felis pardalis Linn. p. 330.

We heard frequent reports of this animal in the lower parts
of Colima, and saw its skins.

Yacuaronpr Cat. Felis yagouaroundi tolteca Thomas. pp. 326,
327, 330.

I saw one and found the skull of another. The Mexicans

knew little about it. They called it Leoncillo.
GUATEMALAN GRAY Fox. Urocyon guatemale Miller. pp. 225-
228.
Common in all the barrancas and at sea-level in Colima.
Coyote. Canis vigilis Merriam. pp. 274, 276.
Common in the open lowlands. Said to feed upon armadillos.
GREAT-TAILED SkunK. Mephitis macroura Licht. pp. 279, 280,
282, 283, 294, 295.

Common in the barrancas and in the low country.

snmanrsrtee B99 Bornmnnn

¢ APPENDIX

Lesser Skunk. Spilogale sp. ?
A small species of skunk was occasionally seen near the vol-
cano.
WHITE-NOSED Coatt Monpi. Nasua narica molaris Merriam.
pp. 280-282.
All the Mexicans believe that there are two species of Coati
or tajon, one of which hunts in bands, while the other, a larger
kind, is always found alone. One of the latter kind which we

secured proved to be an old scarred male, so probably this tajon
major is only an occasional ostracized individual.

Mexican Raccoon. Procyon lotor hernandezii (Wagl.). pp. 162-
164, 209, 220, 223, 281, 282.

The individuals which we saw and shot were all of large size.

Very abundant everywhere except on the tableland.
Rine-TaItEeD Cat. Bassariscus astutus (Licht.). pp. 220-223,
281, 282.
Plentiful both in the barrancas and lowlands.
Brack Berar. Ursus americanus Pall. p. 328.

A report came to us again and again of three bears which
had been shot in Tepic and in the northern mountains of Jalisco.
I obtained a good-sized tooth from an Indian hunter. This bear
is called Oso by the Mexicans.

Vampire. Desmodus rotundus (E. Geof.). pp. 270, 276.

Rather common in the Colima lowlands. One, which found its
way one night into the house with us, tried to escape but made
no attempt to disturb us. Near camp I found one dead, hanging
in a dense thicket close to a hollow tree. It had evidently been
dead some days.

Smauy Bar. Sp.? pp. 217, 218, 360.
Very abundant near our camp in the lowlands.

INDEX

INDEX

Acacias, 152, 270.
Adobe houses, 38-40, 107.
Agua Azul, Oasis of, 66-82.
Alkali desert, 82-90.
dust, 51.
Anis, 8.
Groove-billed, 520, 385.
Ant-lion, pits of, 243.
Ants, 103.
black, 130.
leaf-carrying, 152-154, 245,
nests in trees, 319, 520.
tunnels of tree, 192-194.
wood, 312.
Armadillo, 223, 256, 280.
Nine-banded,
276, 396.
Arroyo del Muerte, 228-257.
Atenquiqui, Barranca of, 130-169,560.

234, 235,

Bassariscus. See Ring-tailed Cat.
Bats, 9, 215, 216, 360, 398.
horde of, 272, 274.

Bear, 328, 598.
Beeard, Xantus, 330, 351, 388.
Beetles, 21.

tiger, 18, 210.

water, 209.
Berries, 186, 190, 279, 3808.
Birthwort, 294-299.
Bittern, 11.
Blackbirds, 25, 61, 115, 117.
Bicoloured, 115, 390.
Brewer, 61, 391.
Red-winged, 9, 116.
Yellow - headed, 63-65,

115, 390
Blackfish, 2.
Bluebill. See Lesser Seaup Duck.
Bluebirds, 250, 396.
Boa, Mexican, 276, 277.
Bob-White, 250.
Grayson, 385.

238, |

| Booby, 12, 381.

Red-tfooted, 335, 381,

Bougainvillea, 53.

| Bunting, Leclancher or Rainbow, 521,
398.
| Painted, 349, 393.
Turquoise-fronted, 606, 595.
| Varied, 195, 550, 393.
| Butterflies, abundance of, 164, 165.
at carrion, 293.
at pools, 208-211.
injured by birds, 295.

| leaf, 241-245.

like Northern ones, 99, 100.
Buzzards. See Vultures.
Cacique, Mexican, 282-284, 390.
Cactus, 40, 42, 54, 55, 91,171, 234, 270.
candelabra. See Organ cactus,
nopal, 230.
organ, 85, 104, 206, 230.
in Barranea Atenquiqui, 131-
133.
in tropics, 268-273.
outfit for, 364-374.
provisions for, 370, 371.
Canvas-back, 119, 383.
Caracaras, 117, 248, 255, 290-292.
Audubon, 386.
Catbird, 8.
Catfish, giant, 109.
Cat, Ring-tailed, 218-221, 279, 280,
598.
Tiger. See Ocelot.
Catharus, Jalisco, 396.
Cave-dwellers, 35.
Century-plant, 244.
Cereus, Night-blooming, 53, 244, *
254.
Chachalaca, Wagler, 324, 327, 328, 3
Chapala, Lake of, 109-111.
marshes of, 109-121.
Chat, Du Bus Red-breasted, 288, 3

Camp,

¢ 403

Clematis, wild, 184.
Coati Mondi, 278-280.
White-nosed, 398.
Colima, city of, 265, 340-347.
voleano of, 123-130, 132, 133,
227, 235, 261, 265,’ 267,
270, 3887, 352-857, 358,
361.
Condor, 204.
Coot, American, 73, 74, 77, 113, 118,
123, 384.
Coquimatldn, 265, 266.
Cormorants, 217, 332.
Florida, 6.
Mexican,
215, 381.
82, 390.
Red-eyed, 117, 390.
O72. 274.

(4, 4

78, 1238, 190,
Cowbirds,

ee

Crabs, 1
cere 164.

Crane, Sandhill, 384.

Creeper, Black and White.

and White Warbler.

Crow, Mexican, 390.

Cuba, 6-9.

Cuckoo, Rufous, 176-178, 387.

Curassow, 320.

Curlew, Long-billed, 118, 385

See Black

Daddy-long-legs, 238, 23:
Dahlias, wild, 99.
Deer, 197, 218, 360.
Mexican, 205, 256, 396.
Nelson, 396.
Ditches of Guadalajara, 40-59.
Diver, Great Northern. See Loon.
Dolphins, 2
Doves, 184, 185.
Ground, 9.
Inea, 61, 185, 385.
Mexican Ground, 185, 385.
Mourning, 103, 104, 185, 186,
216, 385.
White-fronted, 216, 248, 385.
White-winged, 290, 300, 301,
385.
Drag on-fiy, 239-241.
Dueks, 32, 75, 77, 80, 118, 119.
Canyas-back, 119, 383.
Gadwall, 118, 119, 382.

Ducks, Lesser Seaup, 4, 113,119, 123,
383.
Mallard, 73, 118, 128, 190, 382.
Pintail, 73, 74, 119, 383.
Shoveller, 73,74, 119, 128, 382.
Eagle, Harpy, 288.
Egrets, 79, 118.
American, 78
Reddish, 118, 383.
Euphonia, Godman, 194, 593.

=I
e)
=
bo
oe
o9
toa
oe

Falcon, Laughing, 320, 321, 324, 327,
828, 386.

Fern, Maidenhair, 244.

Finch, Cuernavaca House, 46, 47, 60,
63, 391.

Fish, 18, 207.

dying in lagoon, 332.

Flying, 9, 10.

Needle, 11.

Florida, 4-6.
Fly, Black, 285, 286, 295-

Ichneumon, 9.
Flycatchers, 21, 71, 18 8, 186, 187, 189,

oe Bois 338.
Ash- throated,7
Beardless, ine 390.
Derby, 155, 156, 163, 164,

189, 389.

Girard, 189, 389.
Least, 188, 189, 389.
Olive-sided, 389.
Querulous, 187, 389.
Swainson, 187, 389.
Vermilion, 70-72,
courtship of, 91-93.
Fox, 256, 269, 271.

Guatemalan Silver-g eray, 2238-226.
Frigate-bird. See Man-o’-War Bird.
Froe-bird. See Gray-headed Tityra.
Frogs, 336.

eggs, 207.
Fruit, the grotesque, 288-290.

298.

389 ;

Gadwall, 118, 119, 382.
Gall, Cotton, 287, 288
Gallinule, 77, 123.
Purple, 384.
Gannet, 2, 12, 381.
Garden, Zodlogical, of Mexico City, 31.

smn ADA Spoesnnn

Geese, White-fronted, 119, 120, 383.

Snow, 120, 121, 383.
Gnatcatcher, Western, 100, 101, 154,

395
Goatsuckers, 197.
Mexican, 198, 388.
Goldfinch, Arkansas, 391.
Mexican, 99, 391.

Goshawk, Mexican, 137-140, 386.
Grackles, 61, 62, 72.

Boat-tailed. See Great-tailed.

Brewer. See Brewer Black-

bird.

Great-tailed, 61, 391.
Grasshoppers, 51, 57, 58, 117, 318.
Grebe, Least, 119, 380.

Pied-billed, 380.

Western, 75, 110, 380.
Grosbeak, Black-headed, 306, 349, 392.

Western Blue, 350, 392.

Guadalajara, 36-82.
Guan, 330.
Gull, Bonaparte, 381.

Herring, 2, 380.

Ring-billed, 2, 380.

Hatteras, 2.
Havana, 6, 7, 9.
Hawk, Caracara. See Caracara.
Coon. See Laughing Falcon.
Desert Sparrow, 21, 32, 42, 45,
51, 57, 94, 386.
Marsh, 21, 48, 385.
Mexican Black, 135-137, 139,
140, 148, 316, 317, 386.
Sennett White-tailed, 117, 386.
Western Red-tailed, 76, 138,
139, 386.
Heliconia, 165, 248.
Herons, 118, 119.
Black-crowned Night, 384.
Boat-billed, 325-327, 384.
Great Blue, 78, 86, 118, 123,
332, 383.
Little Blue, 302, 315, 384.
Green, 78, 123, 384.
Louisiana, 384.
Hornet, 165.
Hummingbirds, 40, 55, 56,57, 58, 99,
101, 237, 807, 310.
Blue-crowned, 96, 388.

Hummingbirds, Broad-billed, 96, 588.
Costa, 56, 388.
Fork-tailed or Golden-
back, 150, 151, 388.
Rufous, 56, 388.
Hyacinth, Water, 74.

Ibis, White, 316, 383.
White-faced Glossy, 75, 119, 123,
383 ; flight of, $1, 82.
Wood, 5, 332, 383.
Iguana, 58, 157-160, 162, 163, 214,
215, 247, 350.
breaking off tail, 230-234.
Insects, absence of troublesome, 279.
abundance of, 164, 186.
drinking at pools, 208-211.
effect of cold upon, 21.
fertilizing Birthwort, 204-299.
in January, 98.
mimicry of, 238-243.
washed ashore, 18.
Ixtaeccihuatl, 30.

Jacana, 123.
Mexican, 79, 80, 385.
Jaguar, 255, 330, 397.
Jardin Botanico de Universidad, 7-9.
Jay, Long-crested Blue or Magpie,
174-176, 178, 320, 390.

Keys, the, 5.

Killdeer, 19, 117, 134, 185, 385.

Kingbird, Cassin, 189, 589.

Kingfisher, Belted, 72, 317, 318, 387.
v

Rufous-bellied, 317, 318,
387.
Texas or Little Green,

142-146, 317, 318, 387.

Ladies’ Paint-Brush, 99.

Lantanas, 99.

Lizard, 9, 58, 134, 140, 156-160, 178,

197, 207, 230, 237, 277, 319.

green, 157, 158.
blue-tailed, 58.

Lobelia, wild, 48.

Loon, 2, 110, 380.

Macaw, Military, 173, 174, 247, 248,
261, 281, 282) 386.

PA 5 sy
& 405 $

Maguey plants, 29, 31, 32.
Mallard, 73, 118, 123, 190, 382.
Mammoth, tooth of, 86-88.
Man-o’-War, Portuguese, 3, 21.
Man-o’-War Bird, 5, 6, 382.
Manzanillo, 331-335.
Marshes of Chapala, 109-121.
Meadowlark, Mexican, 114-116, 390.
Mesquite, 40, 85, 88, 129, 255.
wilderness of, 91-105.
Mexicans, about camp, 337, 338.
home life of, 267, 268.
love of music, 342.
i 284, 285.
women, 338, 339.
skill with lasso, 346, 347.
superstitions of, 127, 128,
269, 277.
Mexico, money of, 364.
Mexico, City of, 31.
Mice, wild, 222, 254, 274, 279, 280.
Midge. See Black Fly.
ages ean Westanul 9, 5
237, 395.
Monkees 286.
Moss, mimicked by Daddy-long-legs,
238, 239.
Moths, 1 8, 21.
Hawk, 254.
Sphinx, 21.
Motmot, Mexican, 198-204, 303, 30.
3eT.
Mule, psychology oe 262-264.
Musicians, blind, 32, 35.

5, 94, 180,

Nighthawk, 388.
Nonpareil. See Painted Bunting.
Norther, 16-20.

Ocelot, 330, 397.
Opossum, 203,
Mexican, 274, 275, 280, 396.

Orchids, 238, 270.
Orioles, 9, 149, 261.

Arizona Hooded, 391.

Bullock, 391.

Wagler, 149, 391.
Orizaba, peak of, 14, 15, 22, 30.

town of, 21-25.
Owls, 273.

Barn, 276, 386.

INDEX

Owls, Burrowing, 101, 102, 386
Horned, 162, 163, 221.
Parauque, 301, 302, 388.
Parrakeets, 320.
Red-and-blue-headed,
178, ae 386.
Parrots, 174, 178, 338
Finsch Amazon, 182-184, 281,
386.

Thick-billed, 250, 252, 386.
Partridge, Scaled, 266, 385.
Patio, advantages oe 39, 40.
Peceary, Collared, 528, 330, 396.
Pelican, 113.

Brown, 4, 18, 382.

California Brown, 33%

White, 110, 111, 382.
Petrel, Stormy or Wilson, 2, 19.
Petunias, wild, 99.

Phalaropes, 2.
Pheebe, Black or Rock, 186, 192, 207,

209.

Pigeon, Band-tailed, 290, 385.
Pines, of Colima, 249-251.
Pintail, 78, 74, 119, 383
Pipit, American, 9.
Plover, 117, 118.
Killdeer, 19, 117, 134, 135, 385.
Popocatepetl, 30.
Poppies, Mexican, 48.
Progreso, 11, 12.
Pulque, 29, 32, 254.
Pyramids, Aztec, of the sun and moon,

Raccoons, Mexican, 162-164, 207, 218,
221, 279, 280, 398.
Rainy: season, approach of, 335-337.
Rat, Jalisco Pouched, 58, 59.
Rattlesnakes, 109, 277, 360.
Ravens, 86, 184.
American, 75, 76, 390.
White-necked, evening flight
of, 104, 105, 390.
Redstart, Painted, 244, 247, 306, 395.
Redwing, 9, 116.
Resurrection plant, 236.

¢ 406 >

Rio Grande de Santiago, 95, 96, 109.
Road, old Spanish, 349, 350.
Roadrunners, 177, 178, 230, 387.
Robins, 194.
Gray-breasted,

304, 396,

Xed-backed or Yellow-billed,

304, 396.
Western, 396.

Sanderling, 4.
Sandpipers, 2, 77, 79, oe 315.
Solitary, 154-136,
SI9SaE CE 385.
Scorpion, common, 273.
whip, 273.
Seed-pods, 48-50.
Sharks, 12.
Shoveller, 73, 74, 119, 12:
Shrikes, 32, 55, 57.
ite-rumped, 51,
393.
Siskin, Forrer, 257, 391.
Skinks, 9.
Skippers, 208.
Skunk, 292, 293.
Great-tailed, 277,
281.
Lesser, 398.
Small-pox, 337.
Snake-bird, 381.
Snapper, Red, 12.
Snipe, 77.
Wilson, 19, 103, 384.
Solitaire, Mazatlan, 243— 246, 247,
395.
Sparrows, 57, 60.
Brewer, 94, 392.
Clay-coloured, 45, 51, 391.
English, 8, 60.
Grasshopper, 51, 391.
Lincoln, 102, 103, 392.

084.

382.

94,

278,

248

130,

280,

’

Western Lark, 45, 46, 55,

391.
Spermophiles, 59, 286.
Mexican, 397.
Spider, 165-167, 273.
Spoonbill, Roseate, 383.
Squirrel, Black, 104.

Mexican Gray, 286, 597.
Red-bellied Gray, 70, 286
287, 290.

6,

Stilt, Black-necked, 77, 118, 119, 128.
Swallow, Barn, 107, 108, 393.
Violet-green, 107, 191, 192,

White- pallied:

green.

See Violet-

Tableland, Mexican, 26-121.
Tadpole, 207.
Tanagers, 149, 206.
Hepatic, 306, 595.
Louisiana, or Western, 149,
293.
Summer, 206, 393.
Tapir, 396.
Tarantula, 273.
Teal, 215.
Blue-winged, 75, 119, 12:
Cinnamon, 74, 119, 191, 3 :
Thrasher, Curve-billed, 93, ii 130,
395.
Tityra, Gray-headed, 229,
Toad-hoppers, 210.
Tonila, 260, 261, 350.
Towhee, 55, 59.
Brown, 51, 52, alls 392.
Green-tailed, 52, 392.
Travel, routes of, 364.
Mree-snalce, 279.
Trees; flowering of, 96,
231,
Cotton, 148, 335.
Fig, 192, 210, 211, 261, 262,
240, 314, 315.
Milk-weed, 287.
Parrot-fruit, 181, 182.
Trogons, 256,
Coppery-tailed, 184, 215, 247.
305, 387.
Yellow-bellied, 302, 303,
Turkeys, 330.
Tuxpan, 1253-159, 258, 259.
Tyrant, Pitangua, 189, 190, 247, 889

230, 888.

99, 148-150,

387

Vampire, 268, 274, 3!
Vegetation, effect if pane on, 20.
from coast to tableland,
21, 25, 26.
of alkali desert, 82-86.
of arroyo, 229, 230, 286
2438, 244, 246, 250.

238,

wong AOT Serum

Vegetation, of mesquite wilderness, 1.

of Rio Santiago, 95, 96.
semi-tropical, 130.

of tropical swamp, 324.
of tropics, 269, 270.

warfare and struggles of,

308-313.
Vera Cruz, 16-19.
Verbenas, Ground, 48.
Vine, Trumpet-Trap. See Birthwort.
blossoms of, parasitic, 313, 314.
Vireo, Black-cap, 298, 394.
Cassin, 393.
Yellow-bellied, 154, 394.
Voleano, of Colima. See Colima.
Vueltran, Barranea of, 170, 357.
Vultures, 4, 16, 86, 159, 160, 212, 225,
226, 292.
attacking Iguana, 214.
Black, 25, 88, 213, 384.
flight of, 88-90.
gathering for a feast, 212-
214.
Turkey, 7, 61, 88, 213, 385.

Warblers, 288.

Audubon, 60, 61, 154, 250,
394.

Black and White, 305, 394.

Black-throated Gray, 202,
394.

Dugés, 195, 395.

Hooded, 6.

Lutescent, 52, 394.

Myrtle, 8.

Nashville, 298,

Pileolated, 100,

394.

Scarlet Ground. See Du

Bus Red-breasted Chat.

304.
202, 247,

INDEX

Warblers, Townsend, 298, 394.
Virginia or Rocky Moun-
tain, 154, 155, 394.
Yellow, 394.
Yellow Palm, 8.
Wasps, 165, 243.
mud, 207, 209.
nests of, 101, 236, 237.
spider-killing, 165-167.
Water-boatmen, 207.
Water-cress, 103.
Water-spouts, 10, 11.
Water-thrush, Louisiana, 315.
Whip-poor-will, Mexican, 218, 388.
Ridgway, 216-218,
224, 388.
Whirlwinds, 59, 60, 86.
Widgeon, 104, 382.
Wood-hewer, Swainson, 322-324, 388.
Woodpeckers, 230, 315.
Elegant, 146-148, 387.
Gila, 387.
Guatemalan, 286, 3
Imperial, 286.

87.

Mexican Pileated, 206.
387.

Sinaloa Ladder-back,
247 (, 387.

Wren, Mexican Cactus, 95, 395.
Mexican Canyon, 62, 140-142,
149, 161, 162, 215, 221, 255,
263, 395.
Oak Forest, 305, 395.
Sinaloa, 101, 595.

Yaguarondi, 326, 327, 330, 397.
Yellow-legs, 118, B84.

Greater, 118, 384.
Yodel of Mexican hunters, 197.
Yucatan, 11, 12.

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